Pat met Celeste when they both worked at Harrah’s in South Lake Tahoe. He took her to Zephyr Cove, to an expensive fancy restaurant with a view. Pat had big hopes for the date since he had a bit of a crush on Celeste. But Celeste flirted with the GQ waiter, a ski patrol type.… Continue reading A Non-starter First Date
Month: January 2023
How Thrifting Improved my Day
(re-run) Okay, I admit it. I’m a thrift store junkie. When I go to my fave beach town, I make sure to stop at every thrift store at least once. That makes for six stops, nine if I venture down to Carmel. This trip I stayed in my town. I wandered into Second Chance and… Continue reading How Thrifting Improved my Day
The Tennis Shoe and the Broken Window
(re-run) It was senior year in high school. I was on my last semester of PE, my least favorite class. I maintained a straight-A average in all other classes. Not PE. It alternated between a B and a C. I was feeling good. We were in our next-to last unit, the physical fitness award. I… Continue reading The Tennis Shoe and the Broken Window
It’s a Small World
(re-run) Today was a meet-up hike, my third time with Randy as our fearless leader. It was sunny with little to no mud and lots of cows. About twenty of us, plus four small dogs, walked five miles in two and a half hours. The great part is that the meet-up hikers go to places… Continue reading It’s a Small World
Marathon Man
(re-run) She had tried them all — Match, eharmony, Our Time, Chemistry, Zoosk, OkCupid, and CoffeeMeetsBagel. She’d had her share of weirdos and had learned to use a fake name, fake town, and a fake place of work. She had been stalked in the past. Now she knew how to do it and be safe.… Continue reading Marathon Man
Typical Tuesday
Today’s entire front page is about the two mass shootings over the past three days, one in Southern California, and the other one fifty miles from my house. We can continue to believe that it won’t affect any of us, that mass shootings happen to other people. It’s getting to the point where we can… Continue reading Typical Tuesday
The Day Grandma Got Woke
(re-run) My mom loved to watch Ellen. It’s usually fun and games, with hunky guys and Ellen playing tricks on her guests and staff. She rounded out the hour with lesbian jokes, a musical performance by some obscure band, and Ellen surprising some needy but giving person with $10,000 in cash. Then the death of… Continue reading The Day Grandma Got Woke
Another Brush with Nature
(re-run) My beach town has a state-run conference center in it, with rustic buildings designed by the architect, Julia Morgan. It’s what got me here back in the late 80s and 90s, attending a writer’s conference next to the ocean at Asilomar. Over the years. I’ve seen brown state-issued signs posted for mountain lion sightings.… Continue reading Another Brush with Nature
The Power of Nature
(re-run) Sun, trees, dirt, flowers. My nose is full of the smell of Eucalyptus. I used to hike twice a month with my senior hiking group called DASH. Then my sis moved in with me so that I could be her care giver. My hiking days stopped except for once last summer when I lucked… Continue reading The Power of Nature
Cut Loose on a Saturday Afternoon
(re-run) “I like the way you dance,” he said that Saturday afternoon. Margo and I had gone to Vino Godfather, a cool little winery in an old Victorian house on Mare Island in Vallejo. The island used to be a naval base, judging from the abandoned barracks on the way to the winery. A good… Continue reading Cut Loose on a Saturday Afternoon
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 