Author: admin

One of the first headlines I remember seeing sprawled across a national newspaper at the beginning of the new year, read, “How to find More Joy, Success and Connection in 2026”. Well, the message in that article was soon smothered by what seems like an entire year’s worth of muck and mayhem news articles.     –And it’s only January!

At times, finding good news and heartwarming stories can feel a bit like this little girl looking for the caribou!

I hope that joy, success and connection is right around the corner for everyone, no matter what their skin color, political affiliation, faith, or country.

One way I’ve found a bit of happiness is to spend time with friends and family.  Especially, the little ones! Having a grandchild snuggle in as I reading a book to them brings me great Joy!

Here’s a book that your children are sure to giggle their way around the globe reading!

Off the Wall. World Tours!  NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA

To see more illustrations and find out more about this captivating story

…or if you know of a group of children around the Metro and Southeastern Minnesota, that would enjoy having an author visit their school, please contact me.

LeanneMBenson (don’t forget my middle initial and add) .COM

(I apologize for the inconvenience. Separating my address is a way to weed out spam and robots.)

LeanneBenson@goacentek (No middle initial. But don’t forget to add) .NET

Wishing you joy, success, and connection in 2026!

Thanks for stopping by

It doesn’t matter what age you are, most of us feel our time is precious, so I’ll keep my thoughts brief.

You can see more illustrations like this one in my new book, Off the Wall World tours!  Coming January 2026

Enjoy the holiday season.

Thanks for stopping by,

It seems more and more often, subjects spawn disagreements.  And so, I wrote something most of us can agree on.

Children grow up quickly!

That seems especially true for those of us who adore children. That’s not to say, my kids and grand-kids are never difficult, noisy, messy, or don’t smug up the windows. But when all was said and done, those little aggravations seem to get smothered by charm. And what I remember most is their precious innocence and fun natured attitudes.

I was fortunate to stay home to care for my children when they were small, and even more privileged to help care for each of my grandchildren. If you’re not someone that is enamored with the things little kids do and speak. That’s okay! In fact, I’m glad! Just like I’m glad that everyone wouldn’t want to live where I live. If that were the case, there wouldn’t be room for me to do what I enjoy and be where I am.

Thank goodness for our differences!

Wishing you fond memories of times and places when life went your way!

Thanks for stopping by,

A half a lifetime ago, my high school Spanish teacher stood in front of the class instructing us, “This is a test. And during the test you are not allowed to leave FOR ANY REASON!”  Well, I had been coughing a lot that year. So, I began to worry that I would start coughing and would fail the test. Worry flooded my head. I couldn’t think. And then my fears came true. I began to cough and cough. Tears rolled down my cheeks. I gasped for air.  The teacher walked up to my desk and told me to go get a drink of water. I refused. I had to finish my test. I wonder if the instructor hadn’t been so adamant about not allowing us to leave the classroom, would I have had this coughing spasm? I don’t know. – It took a while to compose myself at the drinking fountain. But after a while I was able to return to the test. I finished it and passed.

Growing up, I often got wrapped in worry. It seemed when I lost my balance, lost control, and all my choices were gone; things just seemed to work out in the end. Maybe not the way I thought they would or the way I wanted. Sometimes things worked out better!  However, I guess, it’s rather obvious from this poem, I still worry about which things I can actually control and when to let go.

You can see more illustrations like this one in my new book, Off the Wall World tours! Coming soon.

Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by.

This illustration is from my latest children’s book  Coming Soon!

Back to the question, “What is or isn’t art?” –I guess, the answer is different for each of us. For each has the right to see, hear, and feel their own way about a painting, sculpture, poem, or song . . . Hope you enjoyed this piece.

Thanks for stopping by.

It was nine weeks before the solstice of summer,

When I noticed the glimmer of soft sunlight rise.

Creating a mirage of green shades and hues,

Not yet born to Winnebago Valley—

A place where melting glaciers had

sculpted the land –so beautifully!

Snowy patches had melted away.

The last of the juncos flew north.

Oak, Walnut, Maple, and Birch

Rushed to sport spring apparel.

But wild plum and cherry tree blossoms

Were the finest amidst bare branches.

The timbre from a hollow tree

Gave proudly to the woodpecker’s beat.

Goldfinch had turned fluorescent yellow.

Orioles raced in on the horsetail clouds.

And in those woods, I stood and listened

To the myriad of music.

Taking in a slow deep breath I held the smell of

Rain on the leaves and hidden Morels,

Tiny budding violets scattered on the hillside,

And the luscious green of fiddlehead ferns.

Little if any fragrance came from the yellow lady slippers.

But it’s rare beauty, was simply— enough!

Soon, last year’s fallen leaves will vanish.

New sights, smells, and sounds will flourish. 

—And as the sunlight began to fade

in Winnebago Valley,

I realized, “Each trip ‘round the sun,

Seems to go faster the longer I live.

~Leannembenson.comm

Over the years I’ve noticed more tiny details with each changing season. Is there something that you recently discovered? Please leave me a note in the comments. I always enjoy hearing from you.

Thanks for stopping by,            

Where do our personal stories and blogs fit among the AI word-hamburger flooding our world? How do I know when I’m sympathizing with a real person who has a stake in the game and when it’s a bot? What message are we sending to our children? On one hand anxiety and depression are on the rise due in part to the stress of perfection. And yet, on the other hand, it seems excellence is paramount.

So much has happened since this blog site was created. Over the past five years, I have written stories, poems, posted artwork and expressed my opinions. There were times I felt I had little to say. But I’d sit down and write anyway. Those occasions, when captivating stories made it from my fingertips, through the keyboard and onto this blog site, gave rise to my struggles.

But do those painstaking hours that writers spend with pen in hand really make a difference anymore. Is it just as entertaining to read a piece that has been made from a list of words that a computer sprays out?

GPS has its place too. It helped us understand how to navigate… or has it? Most of us are lost without GPS. It certainly took me aback when the message “Use precaution…” popped up on my GPS screen. Calculators are great! We need to be able to figure out problems such as balancing a checkbook, using fractions when cutting a recipe in half, estimating the cost of interest on a loan, and creating a budget for ourselves. AI is amazing! But what is becoming of our thought processes…?

We don’t allow drug enhancement to be used in the Olympics. Should we? Where do we draw the line? Please don’t get me wrong. I am not saying we shouldn’t have calculators, GPS, or ChatGPT. I just want to ponder the rhetorical question, when is our true self enough?

How old do you think children should be before they have a cellphone or start using ChatGPT?  I’d like to hear your opinion. Please leave me a comment. No judgements, just interesting food for thought.

Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by,

Winter’s a great time of year to bake all those wonderful meals, and desserts. Do you have a signature dish that others will remember you by?

I remember my grandfather making homemade spaghetti. And I still think of him whenever I make it.

Grandpa’s Homemade Spaghetti   

Trudging through the icy drifts,

I made my way to Grandpa’s house.

And with each step, uninvited snow

Jumped inside my little boots.

I was chilled from my nose to my toes

By the time I rounded the corner.

A trail of snow followed me in-

To Grampa’s rickety screen porch.

With half-frozen fingers, I opened his door.

To a delicious aroma that welcomed me in.

Then Grandpa shuffled to the table

With two big bowls of hot spaghetti.

I tucked the napkin and bowed my head.

Then watched that fork perform

An old folk dance from Italy. 

A leap and a turn of the fork toward the plate.

A spin and twist of the noodles.

A furrow in the dance through the deep, rich, red sauce.

A turn east, west, south, and north,

And a toss of the fork to another… 

Another fork full, another dance,

And through my lips another song.

With noodles humming humbly

The sauce entered in –to the tangy sweet song.

Chomp, chomp, chomp went the beat.

And the meaty cymbals crashed.

One last draw across the bow(l)

And that final note was held—

Forever in my memory.

Oh, how I remember, those scrumptious mouthfuls.

And I’d suffer that walk all over again,

for just one more meal with Grandpa

and his delicious homemade spaghetti.

~leannembenson.com

It’s hard to think of only one recipe that I’d be remembered by. But I imagine it might be for my chewy chocolate chip cookies, my “ten-pound” carrot cake, my spicy Kafka, my tender, savory barbecued ribs, or maybe my cheesy Thai pizza. I’m not Lebanese, nor am I Thai, but I’m also not Italian. I just really enjoy different ethnic foods.

What recipes will others remember you by?

Please leave me a comment. I always enjoy hearing from you!

Holidays are good times to snuggle up with loved ones and read together. The Unbelievable Topsy Turvy Day! children’s picture book is a Great Gift!

Just go to  website and click on the book of your choice. If you’d like to add a unique personalized message and author’s signature to your book, see the box labeled [Add a note to the seller].   –FREE SHIPPING within the contiguous United States.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Happy Holidays!

The name of this still life painting is Autumn Harvest. It’s a fun study of color that I creating in 1981. You might even say it’s a color doodle. It uses opposite colors like red next to green, orange with blue, and purple beside yellow juxtaposed with monochromatic colors. This study is an interesting play on the beautiful colors we see throughout the year in contrast with the lackluster shade of winter.

Here’s another kind of doodle…

Do you ever doodle when you’re on the phone or in a meeting? It may sound a little crazy, but doodling is known to improve your creative juices and can reduce stress. Here’s a fun project. The next time you’re stressed or you’re trying to come up with a new strategy, try doodling. You could start with something as simple as drawing a circle. Shade everything outside the circle as dark as you can. Take your finger and rub in a circular motion over the outer edge of your drawing. Slowly make your finger motions smaller and smaller towards the middle of your circle, leaving the middle untouched. Your finger will pick up the lead and drag it into your circle. Voila! The shading creates an illusion that your circle has become a three-dimensional ball. From there, you can create different shaped doodles and shade them in too.

Go ahead! Grab a pencil and “have a ball”!

How do you relax after you’ve had a difficult day or after reading news of all the turmoil in the world today? Please leave me a comment. I’d like to hear from you. And if you like this blog share it with others.

Thanks for stopping by,