Susan

Dealing with Duff

July 27, 2025July 28, 2025 Posted in beach, beach house, duff, fire prevention, fires, forest, gardening, insurance, memoir, Santa Cruz, urban fires, urban wildlife interface, woodsLeave a comment

What is duff, you ask? It’s decaying vegetable matter covering the ground under trees. It’s what burns in a wild fire. It’s especially thick under evergreen trees because those pine needles build up and don’t necessarily get raked up like obvious leaves do. Insurance companies want those of us who live in California to get… Continue reading Dealing with Duff

The Third Day at the Beach

July 25, 2025July 25, 2025 Posted in Bay Area, beach, donations, memoir, yard work, ZumbaLeave a comment

(re-run) When I visit my beach house, it’s usually for two nights. One night is a no-go. It’s too much work to pack up and take the dogs, driving down one day and driving back the next. Every now and then I get an extra third night. That seems to be the difference between getting… Continue reading The Third Day at the Beach

Mammo-grammo

July 24, 2025July 23, 2025 Posted in breasts, hospital, lunch, mammogram, memoir, SnappleLeave a comment

It was that time again, time to go get my breasts smashed between two plates of glass. I was smart enough to take Tylenol ahead of time. I planned the appointment to be on an empty stomach, since it’s not pleasant and I didn’t want to burp on the technician. The appointment was for 1:30.… Continue reading Mammo-grammo

July 13th x Three in the Obits

July 23, 2025July 24, 2025 Posted in memoir, Richard Simmons, Dr. Ruth, Shannen Doherty, Shelley Duvall, obituary, travel, travel, dancing,Leave a comment

(re-run) Reading my Time magazine today (something I’ve been doing for 47 years), I noticed on the obits page that Shannen Doherty of 90210 fame, died on July 13th at the young age of 53 (breast cancer). I didn’t watch 90210, but everyone knows who Shannen Doherty is (was). Then I saw that exercise guru… Continue reading July 13th x Three in the Obits

My Dog Is Too Smart

July 22, 2025July 21, 2025 Posted in California, dog pill, dog walks, dogs, escape artist, Jack Russell terrier, memoir, prey drive, ProzacLeave a comment

(re-run) Today I put Daisy’s Prozac in a slice of banana, as I do every day. She caught it and spit it out and then ate the banana pieces, leaving the pill. Since two other dogs were right there, also getting slices of banana sans pills, I had to hurriedly pick it up before the… Continue reading My Dog Is Too Smart

Best Summer Day Camp Ever

July 21, 2025July 20, 2025 Posted in California, humor, insects, memoir, nature, parenting, parents, parking lot, rattlesnake, relationships, rescue, snakes, summer, summer camp, t shirtLeave a comment

(re-run) My two daughters were Girl Scouts and went to summer day camp at Twin Canyons in Lafayette, two towns over. In order to get them a slot, I volunteered to work the entire week. I did it for eleven years and enjoyed getting to meet every camper there (about 200 each year). I chose… Continue reading Best Summer Day Camp Ever

The Moon Landing and a Funeral

July 20, 2025July 8, 2025 Posted in death, fishing, grandma, grandpa, high school, Home Ec, junior high school, memoir, moon landing, OCD, relationshipsLeave a comment

(re-run) The day we landed on the moon (July 20th, 1969), my parents took the family to a picnic/fishing spot at the Des Moines reservoir. I was going into high school in the fall, so it was a dorky thing to do on a Sunday, but hey? I couldn’t drive yet, and the food was… Continue reading The Moon Landing and a Funeral

Doing the Wobble While Being Old

July 19, 2025July 17, 2025 Posted in aging, August, dance floor, dancing, line dance, memoir, pandemic, senior center, seniors, sex, winery, Wobble, ZumbaLeave a comment

I just read the lyrics for the song, the Wobble, and I am blushing. It’s about sex. It’s a really fun dance, though, mostly for women, although Saturday, as I wobbled with forty other people on a postage stamp of a dance floor at a Vallejo winery, there were at least four guys. We each… Continue reading Doing the Wobble While Being Old

Thrift Store Angel

July 18, 2025July 17, 2025 Posted in angel, cardboard, flip flops, good deed, Karma, memoir, mulch, thrift store, universeLeave a comment

I’ve posted about Karma before, how if you do something for someone, the universe will reward you. Likewise, if you do something crappy, the universe will punish you. I reward people who help me carry my purchase to my car with a Snapple and a granola bar, since I always have those two things with… Continue reading Thrift Store Angel

My Newspaper-ritual Disaster

July 17, 2025July 16, 2025 Posted in cocoa, dogs, March, Miss Manners, newspaper, rituals, Sunday, UncategorizedLeave a comment

(re-run) When I finally sat down to read my two Sunday newspapers in the evening, I opened up the bag that was supposed to be my local paper and found the New York Times. The delivery person left me the wrong paper? I’d already had trouble in the a.m. procuring the San Francisco Chronicle. I… Continue reading My Newspaper-ritual Disaster