Okay, you said yes to the guy who asked you out two years ago and you turned him down. Now he has shown up at a dancing venue in Concord on the same day you wondered whatever happened to him. You see, he lives in San Francisco and you live in Suburbia. Then you agree… Continue reading First Date Red Flags
Category: California
Smoky Day
It’s September 15th, tax day if you’re self-employed, and an end of summer day deep in the heart of fire season if you live in California. Our worst fires have been in October, so we have weeks to go before it rains again. The sky is dark this morning, but it’s not from rain clouds,… Continue reading Smoky Day
Best Laid Plans
It was a Sunday. I was supposed to be going to a birthday party in Antioch, forty minutes away. But the day had become a comedy of errors. I had sweet-talked my son into installing my new printer and had lured him over with the promise of pizza for lunch. It took him longer to… Continue reading Best Laid Plans
Must Be a Small Town
I went to my favorite beach town for 24 hours to get away from it all. The weather was foggy, the weeds in my yard were thick, and my two dogs were fighting. But three thrift stores in Carmel had their end-of-the-month half-off sales yesterday, so who cared about the weather, the weeds and the… Continue reading Must Be a Small Town
Motion Sickness and Me
I have a friend who likes to apply her make-up in my car after I’ve picked her up. That way she can save time while I drive. I get to drive in the HOV lane with a carpool. All was good until the day she sprayed perfume on herself with me a foot away from… Continue reading Motion Sickness and Me
Second Time Around
Suzanne needed a date for her Alpha Delta Phi sorority party that was being held off campus at one of the sister’s parents’ house. She invited a guy from her old high school, Mark. When they got there, Mark knew the physician dad, because they’d been on ski patrol together one winter in Tahoe. Mark… Continue reading Second Time Around
The Elusive Dot … Dot … Dot
It takes seven artisans to make a glass of wine — from the grape growers to the vintners to the coopers, etc. Or so the pitch goes at the small winery in Fairfield. And to draw a crowd, they bring in live music on weekend afternoons. Brent met a woman online and invited her there… Continue reading The Elusive Dot … Dot … Dot
The Racist and the Ficus Tree
When I was young, the one black boy in my elementary school was my classmate. His name was Teddy. This was white-white-white Iowa in the 60’s. My first grade teacher, Mrs. Van Cura, got angry at the class one day for misbehaving and said, “Whoever doesn’t behave will have to play with Teddy at recess.”… Continue reading The Racist and the Ficus Tree
Joe Average
Emily met Joe on Match. They both liked the Giants. They both lived in Livermore, although he worked in Alameda and had to get up early at 4:00 a.m. for his job. Joe made an exception to stay up late one night so he could meet Emily for dinner. Emily had looked forward to meeting… Continue reading Joe Average
The Widower
They found each other on Match. 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 and… Continue reading The Widower
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 