When George was twenty-three his boss set him up on a blind date with a woman who was a good customer for their auto parts business. George had been talking with her on the phone for over a year. The boss thought he should meet her in person. “Dinner’s on the company,” George’s boss said.… Continue reading A Great Personality
Category: California
The Tree Whisperer
I walk my neighborhood once or twice most days. Since I am a tree hugger and have planted more than sixty trees at my various houses over the years, I will free a distressed tree when I see one. I carry scissors in my back pocket, the little ones used in kindergarten. That way, if… Continue reading The Tree Whisperer
Street Dance
After hiking six miles with the senior group called DASH, which does not dash at all, but rather hikes slowly through the woods with plenty of stops for bathroom breaks, snack breaks, or count-up-and-regroup breaks, I was too pooped to go out dancing. But my friends were going, it was close (just one town up… Continue reading Street Dance
A Lasting Love
Maurice was a sophomore at Riordan Catholic High School for boys in San Francisco. He played tenor sax in the marching band. His buddy Dave was dating a girl named Sheila from Mercy Catholic High School for girls, and he suggested that Maurice date her older sister, Colleen. The foursome went to the football game,… Continue reading A Lasting Love
It Never Goes Away
Every year I get a notification from Facebook that it’s a certain friend’s birthday. The trouble is that the friend has been dead and gone for over four years. I read a poem at his memorial service. He was a ski club guy, not a guy I knew real well. Is there no one to… Continue reading It Never Goes Away
The Friend Date
(re-run) He said he had a girlfriend but that she didn’t like to dance. Here he was, out dancing again. He loved to talk up a good game with the ladies, but would he ever act on it? He’d been with the same woman for over twenty years. He had insisted that I take his… Continue reading The Friend Date
The White Album
The last time I saw the Beatles cover band in the Santa Cruz mountains hippie town of Felton, I noticed that most of the crowd was coupled off, and most of the couples didn’t dance. They were too old, having been die-hard Beatles fans for fifty years. It was a shame. The floor is real… Continue reading The White Album
More Uses for a Nine Year Old
Another trip to the beach, another weekend with a nine year old. While her mom toiled away at all the things I can no longer do, I got to spend time with a smart but headstrong little girl who rarely eats healthy food. My goal was to get her to learn her times tables. You… Continue reading More Uses for a Nine Year Old
Judging from the Trends
I was asked to judge a picture book contest. I am a picture book author of 29 books and also a mom of past picture-book fans. Picture books are books with both words and art, usually 28 to 64 pages, and usually for young children. The gift book people have figured out how to put… Continue reading Judging from the Trends
Border Collies 2, Geese 0
She named you Tru. You are a member of the smartest dog breed on the planet, one that performs in sheepherding trials, one that needs to work every day because you are so intelligent. You are happy to get into a golf cart and ride around the Crow Canyon County Club golf course, looking for… Continue reading Border Collies 2, Geese 0
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 