Day 1 in Monterey was sunny and gorgeous, the ocean a deep turquoise. Day 2 the ocean was silver gray with clouds overhead. Day 1 felt warm; Day 2 felt cold, although the temperature might have only changed five degrees, 61 and 56. Day 1 I got here about 1:00, unloaded the car, picked up… Continue reading Two Days in Contrast
Category: Carmel
Piglet in a Box
(re-run) Carin was working, cutting her stepsister’s hair at the salon her mom owned. Her cell phone vibrated. She never took calls during work. All of her friends and family knew that. It vibrated again, a second call from the same number. She picked up. It was her ex boyfriend, Rob. Rob was two ex-boyfriends… Continue reading Piglet in a Box
Even Carmel Gets Weeds
This morning was my Monday thrift store day in Carmel. It’s always Day Two of my trip to Monterey County, and it’s always first thing in the morning, before Highway One gets jammed with tourists heading to Point Lobos and Big Sur. The thrift stores are not in Carmel by the Sea. That part of… Continue reading Even Carmel Gets Weeds
Roughing It in Paradise
Every two weeks I head down to Monterey to water my plants and visit my little beach house. With 60 mph winds last weekend that toppled a decades-old tree next to my yard, I figured I’d have a hundred or so pine cones to clean up in my other front yard under an 100-year-old pine… Continue reading Roughing It in Paradise
A Quirky Story
When I was in high school and bought some of my clothes at the DAV thrift store, they called me quirky. When I made a cool pair of bell bottom jeans out of my dad’s old work pants, they called me quirky, but they also asked me where I got them. When I broke tradition… Continue reading A Quirky Story
Tickled Pink with my New View
This is my week for antiquated language. Here is my tickled-pink story. For you young’uns, tickled pink means you are really, really happy. OMG! Do I have some news today! For thirteen years next month, I have owned a beach house in Monterey county, at first with my husband, now by myself. It sits just… Continue reading Tickled Pink with my New View
Car Shows, Men, and Elvis
It’s funny how memories of one thing lead to memories of other things happening in the same time period. Like the Twin Towers falling, or JFK getting assassinated. Or Elvis dying. Today is the anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death. Forty-two years ago, I was stepping off an airplane from Spain (by way of Morocco). I… Continue reading Car Shows, Men, and Elvis
When your Dog Wants to Kill your Friend’s Dog
I invited my friend to my beach house, and she asked to bring her twelve-pound rescue dog. I was hesitant to answer. I wondered how it would work out with my two bigger dogs. Pepper, a mellow lab mix, would be fine. The wild card was Daisy, the twenty-pound Jack Russell terrier. Daisy is a… Continue reading When your Dog Wants to Kill your Friend’s Dog
Shop Till You Drop
(re-run) We had already hit two thrift stores and were heading for a third. Then I remembered that Vicky 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
Best Aquarium Ever
I am a little bit biased. My beach town is right next to Monterey, so my fave aquarium is the Monterey Bay Aquarium. I hadn’t been inside for over two years, even though I always buy a yearly pass. Today I needed to check out the gift shop to see if the book I am… Continue reading Best Aquarium Ever
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 