Author: Susan

I do this blog for PG audiences and another one for R audiences with Bae Bliss.

How to Wreck your Cell Phone

Posted in accident, California, cell phone, Colorado, family, family reunions, Iowa, memoir, Nebraska, ocean, siblings, teachingLeave a comment

(re-run) There are lots of ways to ruin you cell phone. I thought I’d heard them all when: 1.  It fell from back pocket into toilet. 2. It fell into the hot tub. 3. It got dropped into a pan of dishwater. 4. It got wet when a glass of water wine, beer, or Coke… Continue reading How to Wreck your Cell Phone

The Robin and the Chrome Bowl

Posted in birds, brain, California, caregiver, dogs, humor, nature, peace, relationshipsLeave a comment

(re-run) Every morning, as I sit at my kitchen table putting up my blog post and sipping on strong tea, a robin comes near the back porch to meet its reflection in an upside-down chrome dog bowl. The robin does a little dance in front of the bowl. The reflection does a dance back to… Continue reading The Robin and the Chrome Bowl

Peace Corps Fail

Posted in dogs, memoir, Midwestern, Peace Corps, postal service, relationships, Spain, teaching, travel, VenezuelaLeave a comment

(re-run) It was in the spring of my first year of teaching when the call came. I was at Greenwood Elementary in Greenwood, Nebraska. I had applied to the Peace Corps the year before. They had just seen my application. They wanted to fly me to Chicago for an interview that weekend. They gave me… Continue reading Peace Corps Fail

The Dog Whisperer

Posted in animal adoption, animal rescue, animal training, ball throwing, California, dog whisperer, dogs, fridge, HOA, leash, massage, memoir, pandemic, poop, ZoomLeave a comment

(re-run) My son moved in with me. He’s managed to get the super anxious, high-strung Jack Russell terrier to roll over onto her back when she sees him coming. She allows belly rubs to happen. This is huge. I’ve been massaging Daisy Dog ever since pandemic life went online with Zoom. She knows to sit… Continue reading The Dog Whisperer

The Young Have Strength, the Old Have Cash

Posted in back ache, backache, bathroom, Bay Area, beach, cash, construction guy, contractor, memoir, seniors, stages of life, thrift store, Wayfair, youth, strrength,Leave a comment

The stages of life are a series of polar opposites. The young are strong. The old are at their wealthiest. The young can’t afford stuff but are strong enough to lift it. The old can’t lift it, but they have the cash to buy things. This is how I got my new bathroom vanity installed… Continue reading The Young Have Strength, the Old Have Cash

Flat Feet

Posted in Brazil, Canaima, chiropractor, flat feet, Korean War, memoir, skiing, South America, Spanish, travel, vacation, waterfallsLeave a comment

(re-run) I turned on my laptop the other day, and the ever-changing screen showed a photo of waterfalls, big wide ones somewhere in Brazil. I’ve never been to Brazil, but I have been to Venezuela, where there are seven wide falls and a resort below them called Canaima. I was student-teaching with another Iowa Stater.… Continue reading Flat Feet

Five Errands and a Passport Photo

Posted in drugstore, errands, India, memoir, passport, raisins, shopping, thrift store, vacationLeave a comment

(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

His Baby, She Wrote Him a Letter

Posted in best, California, dating, firsts, getting dumped, humor, last, military, relationships, VietnamLeave a comment

(re-run) Holly moved from San Francisco to the East Bay and missed her old classmates. The smart kids and the popular kids had already established their cliques. She was an outsider. Holly had no close friends with which to share her excitement and concerns at Bishop O’Dowd High School, even though she was kind of… Continue reading His Baby, She Wrote Him a Letter

The Golden Bachelor

Posted in dating, humor, memoir, menopause, post-menopausal women, reality TV, widow, widowersLeave a comment

Ladies and, well, mostly ladies! Finally, a show for us post-menopausal gals, the likes of which haven’t been seen since The Golden Girls or Grace and Frankie. What is the Golden Bachelor, you ask? Take a 71 year old widower and put him in a room with 20-some females between the ages of 60 and… Continue reading The Golden Bachelor

It’s a Jungle Out There

Posted in bar, best, California, coyote, dancing, dating, dogs, friends, girlfriends, humor, memoir, moving, music, relationships, seniorsLeave a comment

(re-run) I saw a coyote yesterday during my strength and training class at the senior center. There are so many people in the drop-in class that I have to stand right in front of the glass doors, with a view of the hills filled with wild turkeys, birds, and now Wiley Coyote. My back hurts… Continue reading It’s a Jungle Out There