Month: October 2024

Just Me and the Pups

Posted in 2020, 2021, children, chorus, COVID, dancing, dogs, Facebook, fireworks, grandma, Halloween, January 6th, Jeopardy, memoir, New Year's Eve, party, Paul McCartney, summer, vaccineLeave a comment

(re-run) It’s New Year’s Eve and my adult children just left for a party. My eldest and her hubby flew home this morning. The house is empty except for me and three dogs. They’re calm now, but at midnight, when the fireworks go off, Daisy will dive under the bed. As I scroll on Facebook,… Continue reading Just Me and the Pups

My Lucky Find After Campfire Girls

Posted in allowance, babysitting, beer, biking, Campfire Girls, car, dad, memoir, newspaper, siblings, Spain, want adsLeave a comment

(re-run) When I was a kid, I walked everywhere. I went to a Bluebird or Campfire Girls meeting a few blocks away from home, and one when I was ten, I saw a pale green leaf fluttering on the street. I picked it up, un-wadded it and discovered it was money. A ten-dollar bill. When… Continue reading My Lucky Find After Campfire Girls

The Power of Vacation

Posted in Alexa, biking, California, Carmel, dogs, memoir, Monterey Bay, Point Lobos, relationships, thrift store, Tor House, travel, vacationLeave a comment

(re-run, pre-pandemic) The week after Christmas is dead time for scheduled activities. Chorus rehearsals are cancelled. The city building where I exercise three times a week is closed.  There’s a lot of extra time during the day. So . . . . . . for the first time in two and a half years, I… Continue reading The Power of Vacation

Guardian Angels on Call

Posted in 911, accident, car, car accident, dogs, freeway, guardian angel, memoir, philosophyLeave a comment

(re-run) My two-hour drive from the beach back to suburbia can become longer if there’s an accident along 101, a two-lane (on each side) highway. Once I got past Gilroy, the garlic capital of the world, where the highway grows to four lanes each way through San Jose, I felt confident that I was going… Continue reading Guardian Angels on Call

It’s Easier to Ask for Forgiveness

Posted in 1970s, artist, California, classroom, Iowa, marijuana, memoir, permission, regret, forgiveness, teacher, vines, weekendLeave a comment

(re-run) When I was a third-year teacher in 1979, I had a new school and a new classroom. One wall was white concrete blocks, cold and uninviting. Nothing would stick to it, so I couldn’t hang up posters, classwork, decorations, anything. That wall really bugged me. At the time, I was dating an artist, a… Continue reading It’s Easier to Ask for Forgiveness

Tone Deaf to Tone Deafness

Posted in chorus, grandma, Iowa, Iowa State University, memoir, music, piano lessons, singing, sororityLeave a comment

I’ve been singing my whole life. I went to school when music programs in elementary schools still existed. My grandma taught me to play the piano. I would sing along as I practiced. I sang in the 6th grade chorus and sang in an octette at the Iowa State Fair. It never occurred to me… Continue reading Tone Deaf to Tone Deafness

Pooping at 28,000 Feet

Posted in aging, airplane, airplane bathroom, humor, laxatives, poop, public bathrooms, Secret Service, seniors, travel, White HouseLeave a comment

I’m not a great traveler. I usually can’t poop in a strange environment, or with a roommate, or in a public toilet. My bowels, you see, are shy. Peeing is not a problem.  My mom used to run the water when I couldn’t pee as a kid. Now all I have to do is think… Continue reading Pooping at 28,000 Feet

Your Place or Mine?

Posted in biological clock, children, dating, divorce, marriage, relationships, ring, romance, stages of life, sugar mamaLeave a comment

(re-run) When we were in our twenties and thirties, we were looking for a husband and father of our future children. Our biological clocks ticked louder the closer we got to 35, the cut-off point for a low-risk pregnancy. Yes, older women give birth after that, but fertility drops off in the thirties, and it… Continue reading Your Place or Mine?