(re-run) They met on Match. Larry’s name was Ready for Adventure. He chose a classy woman who turned out to be several weeks older than he was. “How does it feel to be a cougar?” he teased her. Julie liked nice things. She liked to dress up. She liked to stay home and cook. Larry… Continue reading The Double Dump
Category: firsts
Asparagus, Anyone?
(re-run) The farm house was next to the highway, close enough for me to hear the train come by every night, and far enough away from the tracks to get used to sleeping through it. No houses could be seen from any window — just trees, sky, and lots of cornfields. It was a peaceful… Continue reading Asparagus, Anyone?
Worst/Best Dog Trainer Ever
(re-run) When Wiener, the ten-pound family Dachshund, was two, he started pooping in the upstairs hallway. This was not okay with me. I found a dog trainer named Sheila who came to the house and worked with the entire family. That first session was an eye opener. Sheila hooked Wiener’s collar to a leash, and… Continue reading Worst/Best Dog Trainer Ever
Pennies from Heaven
(re-run) When I was sixteen, I saved my babysitting money and went downtown to Cottage Grove Avenue in Des Moines, where there was a head shop filled with incense, hanging beads, roach clips, black light posters and tie dye. Although I wasn’t a pothead (I didn’t smoke cigarettes either), I enjoyed the ambience of the… Continue reading Pennies from Heaven
Romance Coast to Coast
(re-run) Nicky went back to Connecticut to see his mother.“You’ve got to meet this cute Italian girl working in my office,” a friend said.“I’m only here for a week,” said Nicky.“My wife is in night class with a cute Italian girl,” another friend said. “You two should meet.”“I’m only here for a week,” Nicky said,… Continue reading Romance Coast to Coast
Escape
(re-run) Long before dating sites and the personal computer were invented, Scott answered a personal ad in the Contra Costa Times. Remember newspapers? They were ink-on-paper affairs that folded in half, but not shiny like a magazine (a magazine was a booklet of ads, stories, and photographs with a theme that was published weekly or… Continue reading Escape
Worst Weekend Getaway Ever
(re-run) While student teaching in Venezuela, I learned how to have fun with not much money. One of the American teachers had stolen a couple of striped beach towels from an upscale hotel, and she had been sneaking into the hotel pool for years. “Just carry the towel and act like you belong,” Linda said.… Continue reading Worst Weekend Getaway Ever
False Alarm
(re-run) Donnie, a firefighter, had a date with Lisa from Match.com. The date was just okay, but he knew there were only two kinds of women, those he would sleep with and those he wouldn’t. Lisa was in the first category. According to Donnie, men never had a wait-and-see attitude about a woman. Women could… Continue reading False Alarm
Six – Love
(re-run) Alan went to in a dark disco bar in San Jose on a November night. He asked Donna, the woman with an amazing tan, to dance. Had she been to Hawaii? Mexico? The Bahamas? Alan didn’t ask her but admired her bronzed skin. The topic of tennis came up. Alan loved to play. So… Continue reading Six – Love
Drive-in Movie Blues
(re-run) Linda was a freshman and would start high school in the fall. She was doing summer stock at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa. The play was Bye Bye Birdie, and she was playing the part of a show girl. Jeff, one of the good-looking stage hands, drove a blue ’66 Cadillac convertible with… Continue reading Drive-in Movie Blues
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 