(re-run from 2019) As I sit here on a Sunday afternoon, I have fluffy white “Iowa” clouds (cumulus) out the windows across the back of my house. I used to look into a wall, but that baby is gone, and now I have nature. This month has been so full already, three chorus concerts with… Continue reading Holiday Heartache
Category: holidays
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
Airport Surprise
(re-run) She wanted to surprise him. They had both left Hawaii at different times to go home for Christmas and would meet up that night when he picked her up from the airport. He liked lingerie. She had bought a new thong for the holidays, red on one side, green on the other, with two… Continue reading Airport Surprise
Sideshows are the New Running of the Bulls
(re-run) Watching the local news tonight, I saw that it was reported that many cities in the Bay Area had sideshows going on last night. Sideshows are entertainment involving people in cars and trucks spinning doughnuts in the middle of intersections while hundreds of people watch, ride, and take videos of the chaos. It happens… Continue reading Sideshows are the New Running of the Bulls
First Dog, Lost Dog
After moving to farm country to teach high school Spanish, I watched my roommate Kristy come home one day with a German Shephard puppy. “Meet Shane!” she said. She hadn’t asked me. She hadn’t asked the landlord. When she did ask him, his response was, “Not in the house.” Kristy made Shane a bed of… Continue reading First Dog, Lost Dog
Worst Roommate Ever
(re-run) By the time I graduated college, I’d had somewhere close to 37 roommates: the first two in the triple room my freshman year, the next two in another triple when I changed dorms after one quarter, my solo roommate all of sophomore year, then the string of roomies after I moved into the sorority… Continue reading Worst Roommate Ever
Date with an Older Man
(re-run) I said yes. To a date. With a much older man. My girlfriend met him and didn’t approve. But she also said she wouldn’t dance with any guy she wouldn’t want to kiss. I dance with everyone – men, women, kids – many of whom I would never put my lips on. Does dancing… Continue reading Date with an Older Man
Three Stools Down
Tonight, driving home from my third Halloween party, the huge moon shining through wispy clouds, I realized that the bad feelings I used to have about some of the spots along the freeway are gone. My ex has moved out of state. I no longer have to fight for time at Christmas, and my out-of-town… Continue reading Three Stools Down
Hold the Crunch
(re-run) Jim’s job was to put the crunch in Jif, the new peanut butter to rival Skippy. One machine chopped the peanuts into slivers, and another machine used pistons to plug the slivers into the creamy product. Jim also had to taste-test peanut butter that had been sitting on a shelf for three months in… Continue reading Hold the Crunch
The Six Stages of Thanksgiving
(re-run) I’m having Thanksgiving at my house today for nine or ten people. I say that because my brother-in-law may or may not show up. There is lots of football to be missed if he comes ninety minutes north to my house. It will be me, my three kids, my two sisters, my niece and… Continue reading The Six Stages of Thanksgiving
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 