Story Round-Up: Features in The Herald-News, May 8 through May 13

It's been a throwback week of sorts with Sarah and Lucas staying at the townhome with us, working offsite so as to spend time with Illinois family and friends and celebrate Rebekah's graduation from Joliet Junior College tonight.

Saturday we spent at Good Will and found a beautiful dress for Rebekah; Sunday we visited the significant mothers in our past at three different cemetaries. Most of the bonding this week (due to my long work hours) was back and forth conversation in the morning as I'm getting ready to leave or driving home with them Monday and Tuesday (it rained, so they picked me up) or walking home (Wednesday the sun finally came out).

On Wednesday evening at the fitness room, Sarah showd me some techniques for triceps and core, tips she learned from working with a personal trainer. Tomorrow is a huge party for family and friends (haev many birthdays and one graduation to celebrate) and then the festivities end for awhile.

Check out the health, faith, and arts and entertainment calendars. Three of them can be found at the link below. http://www.theherald-news.com/lifestyle/ Gotta Do It, runs each Sunday and often stays on the home page through the week.

Feature briefs for Tuesday (health), Thursday (faith), Friday (Arts and Entertainment), and Sunday (People) are also edited (texted and photos) by the lady of this blog, but only the stories have bylines.

Another option: I do post the briefs and calendars on Twitter during the week, so you're welcome to follow me at @Denise_Unland61.

And if you do peek at these stories, to quote our editor Kate Schott, "Thank you for reading The Herald-News." :)

Shorewood couple has served as foster parents for 30 years

“You have to be very, very patient,” Jim Poch said. “You’re not going to see change in a child in a month. It takes a lot of effort and a lot of give and take.”

http://www.theherald-news.com/2016/04/21/shorewood-couple-has-served-as-foster-parents-for-30-years/auajk9u/


An Extraordinary Life: Manhattan woman sold Avon until she was 93

Margaret Flatt gave up her driver’s license at age 92, but she continued selling Avon for another year. Customers were so loyal to her, they offered to pick up their orders at Margaret’s house.

http://www.theherald-news.com/2016/04/18/an-extraordinary-life-manhattan-woman-sold-avon-until-she-was-93/amx9iq7/

Living Water Yoga to host a charity class at Pilcher Park Nature Center in Joliet (VIDEO EXTRA)

Despite the reluctance some Christians have to participate in yoga, the philosophy of yoga doesn’t contradict the Bible, Bill Austin, yogi,  said.

http://www.theherald-news.com/2016/04/21/living-water-yoga-to-host-a-charity-class-at-pilcher-park-nature-center-in-joliet/apve4cg/

Art exhibit at Gallery Seven in Joliet is 'En-Lightening' (VIDEO EXTRA)

“En-Lightening” will feature two paintings by renowned blind artist John Bramblitt and 17 images of Dr. Rita Rogan’s Paris “Nocturnes,” the first time Rogan – a psychologist who has an interest in biofeedback and the realm of electromagnetic energy – has shown them in a group.

http://www.theherald-news.com/2016/05/03/art-exhibit-at-gallery-seven-in-joliet-is-en-lightening/a8zz4yh/

Woods, Water & Michigan, Part 1

The pull of childhood impressions must be very strong within me, because, even today, woods and water mark the epitome of serenity and romance. Perhaps that’s why Simons Woods and Lake Munson were two of Bryony’s earliest settings.

I grew up in Joliet in a brand-new subdivision that was still underdeveloped enough to contain fields of prairie grasses and tiny, raspberry-sized wild strawberries that my sister and I picked on June mornings until they disappeared with the July heat. We could spend an entire morning crawling on the ground, the weeds scratching our bare legs, moving aside green thatches to find the reddest berries. When our plastic, old butter tub containers were full, we ran home to remove the green tops and toss them into a colander to rinse them clean. They topped our Cheerios the next morning, just like a cereal’s box’s cover photo.

Our three-bedroom ranch house backed up into Highland Park, so before my father installed a six-foot, wooden, privacy fence, you could see the within walking-distance athletic club pavilion. However, the strawberries grew less abundantly there than behind my friend’s house across the street.

Beyond Highland Park was Pilcher Park, with its winding roads, famous flowing well, nature museum and walking trails, and a creek that featured paddle boats in summer and ice skating in winter. I remember being pulled away from an afternoon showing of “Munster Go Home,” on the little rabbit-eared, black and white television in the basement to instead go ice skating. I had outgrown my ice skates and wobbled on a pair, two sizes too large, that had once belonged to my mother. I detested ice skating from that day forward.

We moved to New Lenox in 1974, again to a wooded area near a much smaller creek. That body of water was the perfect spot to watch dragonflies and entertain random musings. I took woods for granted, until I had children of my own and lived in an area that had none.