True Tales of Puget Sound Blog

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In 1998, the “Yearbook of Experts, Authorities and Spokespersons” listed Dorothy Wilhelm (that would be me) as an expert on Sex after 50 (that would be a surprise.) There it was on page 159 right after Sex Addiction and right before Sex and Love. I’m pretty sure this is the first my kids have heard about it and I’ve got to admit I’m worried. I’m not going to try to explain how it happened, butRead More

What do you do when you realize at 2:00 in the morning that the small brown spot on the carpet is not a spot of gravy or coffee, but is actually a small, flat frog? After all, who hasn’t inadvertently stepped on a frog in the middle of the night? He didn’t exactly seem to be dead but he was none too lively, either. Here on the edge of a designated wetland, we seem toRead More

LESSON FROM THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL By Dorothy Wilhelm Note:  This column first appeared in the Tacoma News Tribune on SEPTEMBER 05, 2015.  School was different then. Cleavages were pretty much the same. My classmate found a new shortcut on the first day of school. Unfortunately, he had to crawl under a freight train to use it. The trains then were steam driven. They ran day and night through our tiny Montana town. SometimesRead More

Did you hear the story about the jackass that ran for public office and won? I’m not talking about this year’s selection of candidates. The election I’m talking about took place in the friendly town of Milton, WA in September of 1938. The candidate in question was a brown, long-eared mule with the very formal name of Boston Curtis.  According to the record, this unlikely animal, ran for Republican selectman.  He appeared as required inRead More

by Dorothy Wilhelm YippeeSkippee! We’re coming home!!   We sat on the cellar door and waited for the root beer to stop exploding, Every year, my mother brewed root beer for Independence Day and every year it exploded.  Traditions are very important. The one room General Store in our tiny town of Warland, Montana (pop.100) didn’t carry root beer. The small, dark sales area offered such necessities as a pickle barrel and Campbells Soup, andRead More

By Dorothy Wilhelm NOTE: I HEAR FROM MANY READERS ASKING ME TO RECALL “NORMAL TIMES.” SO LET’S JUST STEP BACK A FEW MONTHS WHEN WE KNEW WHAT “NORMAL” MEANT – FOR A LITTLE SELF HELP. If you put porcupines in your stew, you have to peel them first. “There are no self-help books in this library!” A glance at the neatly organized shelves at our local Senior Activity Center told me the library volunteer wasRead More

Last Sunday morning, I received my very first speeding ticket, after maintaining a spotless driving record for 55 years. I’m really upset. I never had a ticket before. I saw the police car parked near the road that connects Joint Base Lewis McChord to Lakewood (in Western Washington State.) People who live out here know that military roads are enthusiastically patrolled, but I zipped past serenely. After all, they never want me. Until now. AsRead More

  The Facts of Life by Dorothy Wilhelm The facts of life came in the mail in a plain brown envelope. It was brave of my mother to send for the book it contained, “Where Do Babies Come From?” The magazine ad promised it would explain the beginnings of life in a clear, easy-to-understand way that mothers and daughters could share. That kind of sharing was very rare in 1946 when interesting things still cameRead More

JUNE 13, 2020 BY DOROTHY WILHELM It was 66 years ago last June that my husband-to-be sold his 1942 Chevrolet to put an engagement ring on my finger. The ring had what I thought was an incredibly huge diamond — almost a quarter of a karat, a guarantee of prosperous times to come. Deliriously happy, I said to my father. “How do I keep my ring looking sparkly for years and years and years?” InRead More