Month: April 2025

Picking Your Nose and Alzheimer’s

Posted in Alzheimer's, babies, DVD, humor, livestream, memoir, Netflix, noses, This Is Us, TVLeave a comment

I read in the newspaper today (remember those?), that people who pick their noses are more likely to get Alzheimer’s. I am not making this up. Apparently, introducing germs into the nose triggers the brain to produce betas-amyloid as defense.  An abundance of beta-amyloid is believed to be the leading cause of Alzheimer’s. So beware,… Continue reading Picking Your Nose and Alzheimer’s

Three Donkeys – Halfway There

Posted in airbnb, California, car accident, donkeys, highway, highway 101, Iowa, memoir, Monterey Bay, Morgan Hill, mule, ocean, plane crash, temperature, violence, weather, weddingLeave a comment

The drive from 105-degree weather in my town to 60-degree weather in my other town takes two hours, door to door, if I go during non-rush-hour times.  I leave around ten and get to the other house by noon. It’s 120 minutes, unless there’s an accident, like a jack-knifed semi trailer or a church bus… Continue reading Three Donkeys – Halfway There

Chinese Fire Drills and Other Politically Incorrect Things from my Past

Posted in best, ethnicity, family, friends, gender roles, girlfriends, high school, hitch hiking, humor, husband, Iowa, joke, memoir, Midwestern, political correctness, relationships, summer, trouble1 Comment

(re-run) Back in high school in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa, we did whatever we could to stir up some fun and sometimes some trouble. It was a simple existence: go to school, do homework, think about and look for boys. With no cell phones or social media to organize anything, kids spent a… Continue reading Chinese Fire Drills and Other Politically Incorrect Things from my Past

Five Errands and a Passport Photo

Posted in drugstore, Easter, errands, India, memoir, passport, raisins, shopping, thrift store, vacation2 Comments

(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

Rattlesnake Season

Posted in baby rattler, cold-blooded, ER, garage, garden hose, Girl Scout camp, pool cover, rattlesnake, reptiles, snake bite, venomLeave a comment

(re-run) It’s rattlesnake season here in the West.  Snakes are cold-blooded and love warm surfaces like rocks or sunny trails when they are cold, and dark and shady places when they are hot.  At night they curl up in the strangest locales – in coiled-up garden hoses, under the edge of pool covers, and now… Continue reading Rattlesnake Season

Sorry About That

Posted in Black Diamond Mines, California, firsts, hiking, humor, menopause, menstruation, mines, nature, relationships, surprise, worstLeave a comment

(re-run) Aileen, in her early 50s, had a date that neither she, nor the guy, will ever forget. They met online. He suggested a hike out to the Black Diamond Mines in Antioch. She agreed, although she wasn’t much of a hiker. During the hike and while climbing in and out of the mine tunnels,… Continue reading Sorry About That