California – Page 66 – FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER!

Parking Lot Pick-up

September 24, 2020September 23, 2020 Posted in Berkeley, California, cars, Catholic, college, dancing, dating, fraternity, friends, humor, relationshipsLeave a comment

(re-run) Edith and her friend, Laura, were bored. It was Saturday night, and they’d been at their all-girls’ school, Holy Names, for a whole week. It was time to find some guys, to find a party. They pulled into Berkeley and headed for Fraternity Row. Laura spotted someone she had dated before and rolled down… Continue reading Parking Lot Pick-up

Door Number One or Door Number Two?

September 21, 2020September 20, 2020 Posted in best, California, children, cocktail waitress, Colorado, dad, dating, firsts, holidays, humor, Iowa, marriage proposal, memoir, Minnesota, relationships, Sweden, travel, vacationLeave a comment

(re-run)\ It was all because of a blizzard. Well, sort of. I wanted to go to Minnesota to see the boyfriend I’d broken up with five months before while we were in Europe. We had bought Eurail passes and had made our way across the continent, sleeping on trains, in tents, and youth hostels, even… Continue reading Door Number One or Door Number Two?

Spinach Salad, Fog and Smoke

September 15, 2020September 14, 2020 Posted in Android phone, beach, California, climate change, fog, friends, lunch, memoir, Monterey Bay, reflux disease, smoke, spare the air day, spinach, wildfiresLeave a comment

A change-up in the routine is not always a good thing. I bravely ventured away from my regular meals and went to lunch during the pandemic with a friend the day after Labor Day. My Android phone couldn’t scan the bar code to get to the online menu, so my friend read my choices to… Continue reading Spinach Salad, Fog and Smoke

Laugh More, Worry Less

September 14, 2020September 14, 2020 Posted in Al qaeda, Australia, California, climate change, Coronavirus, Covid 19, dogs, Dr. Fauci, election, Facebook, fires, Iowa, laughing, memoir, Oakland, risk, Twitter, YouTube2 Comments

The state is on fire, again. It seems that three of the last four years have been off the charts for wild fires. 2017 – Napa and Santa Rosa burned. Santa Barbara County, too. 2018 – Paradise, the town, was wiped off the map. 2019 – Because of heavier winter rainfall, the fires weren’t so… Continue reading Laugh More, Worry Less

Dating and other Things Over Fifty

September 12, 2020September 11, 2020 Posted in California, colonoscopy, dating, dinner, doctor, nurse, phone, phone numbers, play dateLeave a comment

(re-run) Sherry didn’t get her first colonoscopy when she turned fifty. She put it off. Did she have one done at 51? No, she did not. 52? No, she did not. Finally, Sherry scheduled it to be done at 53. She was so nervous when she went in that the nurses asked Joe, a regular… Continue reading Dating and other Things Over Fifty

The Bonus Daisy Post

September 4, 2020September 3, 2020 Posted in animal adoption, animal training, California, dog training, dogs, hot tub, humor, nature, park, rescue, worstLeave a comment

(re-run from 2018) Normally I write about my rescue dog on a monthly basis, on her adoption anniversary date, the 26th of October. Consider this a bonus post, since she has been making news these past two days. Every morning I get into the hot tub with my cup of black tea, and Daisy perches… Continue reading The Bonus Daisy Post

Shop Till You Drop

September 2, 2020September 1, 2020 Posted in best, California, Carmel, cars, dressing room, firsts, friends, girl friends, lunch, memoir, relationships, restaurant, thrift store, vintageLeave a comment

(re-run) We had already hit two thrift stores and were heading for a third. Then I remembered that Vickie wanted to go to the ones in Carmel. I turned onto Forest Avenue and took the winding highway 68 through the Monterey pines. It would lead to the new roundabout that would send the traffic north… Continue reading Shop Till You Drop

Tattoos for You

September 1, 2020August 31, 2020 Posted in athletes, best, butterflies, California, dancing, dogs, family, friends of friends, generation, humor, memoir, mom, music, relationships, skin, tattoos, worstLeave a comment

I look around and see athletes with tattoos, ex-military people with tattoos, mothers of small children with tattoos . . .

As Fresh as a Daisy, Dog Story

August 28, 2020August 28, 2020 Posted in animals, bath, beach, California, dogs, memoir, Monterey Bay, swimmingLeave a comment

When you’re a dog, a rescue dog, one that has been given back twice, your world is filled with fear, loud trucks, and scary men. So when you have to share your beach house with a big guy with facial hair, another woman who kind of looks like the one that feeds you, and another… Continue reading As Fresh as a Daisy, Dog Story

Uncle Frank and the Jar of Coins

August 25, 2020August 24, 2021 Posted in 4th of July, antique, California, carnival, cats, cousins, Des Moines, grandfather clock, memoir, mom, money, uncleLeave a comment

I grew up with three uncles, one in Colorado, another on the other side of the state, and one near my home town in Des Moines, Iowa. Uncle Frank was older than the other uncles, but since his daughter, Nina, was my age, I hardly noticed. He was married to my grandma’s younger sister. They… Continue reading Uncle Frank and the Jar of Coins