The Friend Date

(re-run) He said he had a girlfriend but that she didn’t like to dance. Here he was, out dancing again. He loved to talk up a good game with the ladies, but would he ever act on it? He’d been with the same woman for over twenty years. He had insisted that I take his… Continue reading The Friend Date

The Longest Day of my Life

(re-run) Today is the anniversary of the longest day of my life. Fourteen years ago, the movers showed up at 7:00 a.m. I had expected them at 8:00. They had a medium-sized truck. There was no way everything would fit. I had the Suburban and the Subaru, but they were already packed to the gills.… Continue reading The Longest Day of my Life

Pandemic Friday

(re-run) My friends are going out. They are eating at restaurants with no masks on, and they are sitting shoulder to shoulder at the table – not all from one household! I am chicken to do that.  I watch too much news and read too many newspapers. Yes, everything we do in life is a… Continue reading Pandemic Friday

Best Birthday Ever

(re-run from deep into the pandemic) I was dreading the big one with no way to celebrate it during a pandemic. What would I do all day?  How could I make the day different from all the other ones during the lockdown? The good news is that I didn’t have to do anything at all.… Continue reading Best Birthday Ever

Suck It Up, Buttercup

It’s that chapter in life where many of my friends in their sixties and seventies are having hip, knee, and shoulder replacements.  Some are younger than me, most older, but all of them so far have seen the benefits of getting a bionic body part, aka titanium. One girlfriend mentioned that she is allergic to… Continue reading Suck It Up, Buttercup

Machu Picchu Before It Was a Thing

(re-run) It was 1977. I was finishing up ten weeks of student teaching in an American oil school in Caracas, Venezuela. My roommate, Christy, wanted to travel for two weeks before we went home to the states. She wanted to visit Machu Picchu in Peru. I’d never heard of it. “It’s the lost city of… Continue reading Machu Picchu Before It Was a Thing

My First Taste of California

When I was in college, the spring of my sophomore year, I saw a poster for a summer job – “Earn $3000 in just three months.” Back in 1975, that was a lot of money. I went to the evening meeting on campus and found myself in a room with a dozen other “applicants.” After… Continue reading My First Taste of California

Sparkle Hands

Tonight, at chorus rehearsal, I was surprised to see the risers set up in the country club ballroom where we rehearse. The concerts aren’t for another month, so it seemed too soon for a riser rehearsal. But as the director pointed out, we are taking off the week of Thanksgiving, and that holiday is late… Continue reading Sparkle Hands

Gender Wars on Facebook

(re=run) Two of my friends who don’t know one another went at it on Facebook over an Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez quote, which said that powerful women get picked on because they are powerful women.  The guy friend stated that gender has nothing to do with it. The gal friend argued that it has everything to do… Continue reading Gender Wars on Facebook

It’s the Little Things

(re-run) A morning sunrise, skies streaked pink and blue.  A warm dog cuddled under the afghan throw as I read a book. A hot cup of fake mocha coffee and a Madeleine cookie.  A bunch of texts from an adult child 3000 miles away.  A photo of my smiling grandson in his high chair. The… Continue reading It’s the Little Things