(re-run) We had already hit two thrift stores and were heading for a third. Then I remembered that Vickie 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
Category: girl friends
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
The Rescue Dog Loves a Zoom Meeting
My crazy, neurotic, stressed-out rescue girl, Daisy, who has been a Nervous Nellie (sorry, Grandma) for the last two and half years and probably a few years before that, loves it when I Zoom. I Zoom with the chorus. I Zoom with the ski club. I Zoom with girlfriends. Whenever Daisy hears me talking to… Continue reading The Rescue Dog Loves a Zoom Meeting
Crocodile Rock
(re-run) Friday evening there was an Elton John tribute band in the plaza. Since Yellow Brick Road is one of my all-time favorite albums, I thought, why not? My youngest, visiting from Boston, had plans to see her friends in Berkeley. It had finally cooled off a bit, and the smoke from the wildfires wasn’t… Continue reading Crocodile Rock
Mama Bird Rules the Roost
A mama bird built a nest over my front porch three plus weeks ago. I was away, and when I came back, I startled her. I am now using my side gate to come and go. It’s not easy doing it this way for a couple of reasons. I have to weave my way through… Continue reading Mama Bird Rules the Roost
Sheltering in Place at the Beach
I just got back from the grocery store. It’s 9:30 a.m. I saw maybe a total of fifteen people, and that includes workers. I was the youngest shopper in there, and I’m two months away from Medicare. Everyone had on masks. I wore my gloves and took them off only to open up the produce… Continue reading Sheltering in Place at the Beach
Weird Happy Hour Conversation
My girlfriend asked me to meet her at the local outside restaurant on a beautiful 70 degree March evening, where a glass of house wine is only $7.00, and the small bites are good. She wanted to discuss politics, the primaries the day before, and the future of America. “Not Bernie!” she said. “The Millennials… Continue reading Weird Happy Hour Conversation
Prince Not So Charming
(re-run) He was dressed as Prince Charming. I was dressed as a 1930’s nurse from Samuel Merritt Nursing School in Oakland, admittedly a weird Halloween costume, but the woman at the estate sale had practically given it to me after I bought $200 worth of antiques for my vintage shop. My friend, Nancy, her niece,… Continue reading Prince Not So Charming
The Eight-stick Day or Colonoscopy from H#$l
(re-run) People over fifty have to have colonoscopies to make sure they don’t have colon cancer, although my chorus friend Travis, who just turned 51, says there’s a less-invasive test nowadays. Not for me. I was due for my ten-year test, so I bought the clean-out meds and took them at the prescribed time. They… Continue reading The Eight-stick Day or Colonoscopy from H#$l
Lovely Rita, Meter Maid
(re-run) Saturdays are best when they are busy. I like to have things to do. So yesterday was fun from morning to night. I spent most of the day in overly-metered Walnut Creek. The town of walnut orchards has turned into a buzzing destination for shoppers. It boasts a Nordstroms, Neiman Marcus (Needless Mark-up), Tiffany,… Continue reading Lovely Rita, Meter Maid
