(re-run) While student teaching in Venezuela, I learned how to have fun with not much money. One of the American teachers had stolen a couple of striped beach towels from an upscale hotel, and she had been sneaking into the hotel pool for years. “Just carry the towel and act like you belong,” Linda said.… Continue reading Worst Weekend Getaway Ever
Month: November 2023
Why Seniors Shouldn’t Multi Task
(re-run) I’ve been multi-tasking my whole life. Until today. No more. This is why. I spent the last two days working with my handy woman/gardener/housecleaner at my beach house. We cleaned and organized the garage, donated furniture and stuff with her truck and moved rocks around in the front yard. She left this morning, and… Continue reading Why Seniors Shouldn’t Multi Task
How to Wreck your Cell Phone
(re-run) There are lots of ways to ruin you cell phone. I thought I’d heard them all when: 1. It fell from back pocket into toilet. 2. It fell into the hot tub. 3. It got dropped into a pan of dishwater. 4. It got wet when a glass of water wine, beer, or Coke… Continue reading How to Wreck your Cell Phone
The Robin and the Chrome Bowl
(re-run) Every morning, as I sit at my kitchen table putting up my blog post and sipping on strong tea, a robin comes near the back porch to meet its reflection in an upside-down chrome dog bowl. The robin does a little dance in front of the bowl. The reflection does a dance back to… Continue reading The Robin and the Chrome Bowl
Peace Corps Fail
(re-run) It was in the spring of my first year of teaching when the call came. I was at Greenwood Elementary in Greenwood, Nebraska. I had applied to the Peace Corps the year before. They had just seen my application. They wanted to fly me to Chicago for an interview that weekend. They gave me… Continue reading Peace Corps Fail
The Crappy Crap Happy Post
(re-run) Life is a balance. Not everything can go your way all the time. Sometimes it seems as though everything is going against you. The last seven days have been full of ups and downs. As long as there is one happy for every one or two crappies, I can muddle through. It’s nice to… Continue reading The Crappy Crap Happy Post
The Dog Whisperer
(re-run) My son moved in with me. He’s managed to get the super anxious, high-strung Jack Russell terrier to roll over onto her back when she sees him coming. She allows belly rubs to happen. This is huge. I’ve been massaging Daisy Dog ever since pandemic life went online with Zoom. She knows to sit… Continue reading The Dog Whisperer
The Young Have Strength, the Old Have Cash
The stages of life are a series of polar opposites. The young are strong. The old are at their wealthiest. The young can’t afford stuff but are strong enough to lift it. The old can’t lift it, but they have the cash to buy things. This is how I got my new bathroom vanity installed… Continue reading The Young Have Strength, the Old Have Cash
Flat Feet
(re-run) I turned on my laptop the other day, and the ever-changing screen showed a photo of waterfalls, big wide ones somewhere in Brazil. I’ve never been to Brazil, but I have been to Venezuela, where there are seven wide falls and a resort below them called Canaima. I was student-teaching with another Iowa Stater.… Continue reading Flat Feet
Five Errands and a Passport Photo
(re-run) My daughter is going to her college friend’s wedding in India. She discovered that her passport was about to expire, which got me to wondering if mine had expired. I hadn’t used it since I got divorced. I found it and saw the expiration date was 2019. That’s what the pandemic will do to… Continue reading Five Errands and a Passport Photo
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 