The Spiritual Post

A friend lost his younger sister to cancer last week. I lost my older sister in December to a myriad of health issues.  Grieving is a process. It doesn’t end all at once. It comes and goes. At least I’m not crying anymore. When a hummingbird gets in my face or flies close to me… Continue reading The Spiritual Post

A Thanksgiving to Remember

It used to be the whole clan around the dining table, but these days, with one nephew in Texas and a daughter’s family in Boston, instead of thirteen, we are only eight this year. The table is laden with every possible combination of food, gluten filled, gluten free, spicy, not spicy, vegetarian, and meaty. The… Continue reading A Thanksgiving to Remember

No Christmas Tree for Me

(re-run from 2018) Eight Christmases in this house and only two trees. Both were living, and both got planted in my yard. Guess what? My yard is full. That’s what happens when you get rid of your grass, fire your gardener, and watch volunteer trees grow on their own, self-planting trees with a little help… Continue reading No Christmas Tree for Me

Orphan Thanksgiving and the Babe Mobile

Bruce was a lieutenant in the navy, and he lived with four bachelor roommates. They’d been out to sea for six months and were back for six months. A guy could save up a lot of money in six months, so Bruce was able to buy a silver Jaguar xke convertible. He nicknamed it his… Continue reading Orphan Thanksgiving and the Babe Mobile

Best Album Ever, Rubber Soul

Twice a month I drive two hours to my beach town to do house maintenance, see the waves, and take a break from the day-in, day-out of retirement. Half the fun is the drive, the music, the scenery along 101, surrounded by fields and hills, trees and sky.  My old car still has a CD… Continue reading Best Album Ever, Rubber Soul

Things That Go Flash in the Night

I was so tired from all the yardwork that I didn’t sleep well. I had tried to heat up the cold beach house, first by opening the windows and letting in the warmer air, and then in the evening, by turning on the heat. The thermostat wasn’t working and indicated I needed to replace the… Continue reading Things That Go Flash in the Night

Memorizing Chorus Song Lyrics

My community chorus is singing 14 songs for Christmas. Five of them are repeats from last year, so that leaves nine new ones for me to learn and a new part on two songs, so 11. Memorizing the notes and timing is easy. Just listen to the songs on a loop while running errands. As… Continue reading Memorizing Chorus Song Lyrics

Harriet and Betty

What do Betty White and Harriet Tubman have in common? Both are being celebrated at the Federal level, one on a USPS postage stamp and the other on the twenty-dollar bill. Betty’s stamp is coming out soon. Harriet won’t be on the twenty-dollar bill until 2030. That’s right, Andrew Jackson, you are going bye-bye. You… Continue reading Harriet and Betty

Poop on the Patio

(re-run) It’s been raining ever since 2023 started, pretty much nonstop. We aren’t used to this in sunny California. We’ve been in a twenty-year drought for well, twenty years. Usually Seattle gets this weather, not us. I can’t walk the dogs. I can’t work in the yard. But I can feed the critters and watch… Continue reading Poop on the Patio

Best T-shirts Ever

(re-run) A student at Sonoma High School wants to collect enough t-shirts with college logos to give a class of first generation fifth graders. Why? So they will start thinking about going to college. This is a cool idea. A writer friend, who also happens to be Latina, shared the student’s post on her Facebook… Continue reading Best T-shirts Ever