(re-run) Sun, trees, dirt, flowers. My nose is filled with the smell of Eucalyptus leaves. 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… Continue reading The Power of Nature
Month: November 2025
Creative People Make Messes
(re-run) If you’re an orderly person like Monk on the TV show of the same name, this column is not for you. You crave things in place, all the time. Otherwise, you get agitated. The other side of the coin is the person who is so busy creating that he/she doesn’t notice the mess. When… Continue reading Creative People Make Messes
The Dog That Everyone Wanted
In honor of Finn, May He RIP (re-run) Scott heard from his college buddy, Joe, that someone was giving away a four-month-old puppy that had cost them $300, a mix of Jack Russell terrier and something bigger. The family felt bad that they were gone all day, and the puppy was crated every day for… Continue reading The Dog That Everyone Wanted
N is for Naming a Child
(re-run) I met a woman last week at a Meet-up dancing event. I asked her her name. It was Candy. Her last name is Kane. No joke. My older sister went to school with a girl named Candy Barr, and another girl named Sarah Darrah. Seriously? What were their parents thinking? Names are eve so… Continue reading N is for Naming a Child
To Flirt or Not to Flirt
(re-run) They found each other on Match.com. They had both lost their spouses. Don said he was looking for a good Catholic widow. He was involved with the arch diocese in Oakland. Sue was a recovering Catholic but thought maybe he was a solid guy. She agreed to meet him for coffee. He was good-looking… Continue reading To Flirt or Not to Flirt
The Best Ten Dollars Ever
(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 day, on the way back, 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.… Continue reading The Best Ten Dollars Ever
Here Comes Trouble
(re-run) I picked up some bathroom tile today, and Mark, the warehouse guy, told me that the floor tile for my bath reno was on back order. “It’s not that special,” I said. “It’s a bunch of colors spattered across the tile. I liked it because it’s forgiving and I have three dogs.” “I sure… Continue reading Here Comes Trouble
Writing It Down
(re-run) Yesterday, as I drove up the freeway to BART, where I would meet two girlfriends and one of their daughters to go to the city to see Hamilton again, I was composing my blog post, out loud, in the slow lane. I was on a roll, phrasing each sentence to perfection as other drivers… Continue reading Writing It Down
Six – Love
(re-run) Alan went into a disco bar in San Jose on a November night. He asked Donna, the woman with an amazing tan, to dance. Had she been to Hawaii? Mexico? The Bahamas? Alan didn’t ask her but admired her bronzed skin. The topic of tennis came up. Alan loved to play. So did Donna.… Continue reading Six – Love
The Hill That Would Not Hold
(re-run from 2024) My neighbors’ hill collapsed fifteen months ago in the crazy January rains of 2023. For months nothing was happening, and I concluded that a lot of guys had looked at the hill and had either refused to bid the job or had bid it way too high. A bulldozer appeared in November,… Continue reading The Hill That Would Not Hold
