Chuck’s Drive-in Movie Date

(re-run) Chuck drove his powder blue Bonneville Pontiac to pick up his new girlfriend for their drive-in movie date during his senior year of high school.  He had tricked out the interior of the car with his two taxidermy quail on a bed of shag carpeting in the car’s back window. When he drove his… Continue reading Chuck’s Drive-in Movie Date

Hold the Crunch

(re-run) Jim earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He took a job with Proctor and Gamble in Cincinnati, which had just started buying up food brands, like cake mixes and peanut butter. Jim’s job was to put the crunch in the new peanut butter, Jif. One machine chopped the peanuts into… Continue reading Hold the Crunch

April 6th, a Popular Date

(re-run) It seems that everything is happening on April 6th.  There is a fashion show, a Beatles tribute band playing, a piano concert, two big sales at my favorite thrift stores, and a girlfriend’s afternoon wedding. Guess which one I am going to do. She is thrilled to be getting married to her guy, two… Continue reading April 6th, a Popular Date

Love Again

(re-run) K.T. and her friend Toni, both divorced, joined the singles’ ski club in the fall. When they found out about the Snow Ball, where five ski clubs came together for dinner and dancing to live rock and roll music, they decided to go together. Rex had been in the club for years. He had… Continue reading Love Again

Trading Up in Omaha

(re-run) Alice got a teaching job in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She decided to live across the Missouri River in Omaha in an old Victorian that had been converted into apartments. A military guy from Maryland moved in upstairs. She ran into him in the hallway after a bike ride one evening when he was coming… Continue reading Trading Up in Omaha

Weekend Thoughts on a Spring Day

(from 2021) I am physically exhausted. It feels good. Cleaning, sorting, weeding, dancing. I have managed to fill up my day alone. I did meet the new neighbors when we were all headed to the beach. They bought four doors down as a second home. Maria across the street chatted with me for a moment… Continue reading Weekend Thoughts on a Spring Day

Two Dates, Two Dolls

(in honor of my parents) He was tall and lanky. She was short with a great smile. They were the leads in the school play at Des Moines Tech high school in 1947. They flirted on and off stage. They even had a kissing scene. Joanne knew Bill was the one. Bill asked her out.… Continue reading Two Dates, Two Dolls

Self-fulfilling Prophecy

(re-run) It was a few days before the kids would come – 7th and 8th graders. I left my job as a high school Spanish teacher and would now be teaching English to middle schoolers.  It was a way to get out of a podunk town in Nebraska and into a big city in Iowa… Continue reading Self-fulfilling Prophecy