Bad Things Come in Small Packages

They met online on Okay Cupid. The horizontal happened fast. Things were going well, so after six months, Barry gave up his ugly apartment and bought a condo. She moved in right away. Then he started to notice her temper: 1. If the house wasn’t perfectly clean at all times. 2. If his son’s dog… Continue reading Bad Things Come in Small Packages

Hold the Crunch

Jim’s job was to put the crunch in the new peanut butter, Jif. 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 100 degree heat.… Continue reading Hold the Crunch

Two Bird Baths, One Fountain

I love my yard. When I first bought my fixer house on a fixer third acre, the yard was full of rocks and rose bushes. Now it has trees, plants, bushes, flag stone, one fountain and two bird baths. The fountain is an advertisement to creatures near and far to come into my fenced yard.… Continue reading Two Bird Baths, One Fountain

Grabby Guy’s Goodness

Brenda was a grad student at Tufts in Boston. She was tired of dating and was thinking of getting her doctorate in nutrition after she got her Master’s degree. Brenda’s two roommates, who were also a couple, told Brenda she needed a night out to go dancing. Brenda got ready and then waited for them… Continue reading Grabby Guy’s Goodness

You Can Take the Girl Out of Iowa

At the end of my ten-week student teaching in Venezuela, one of the teachers said that I could probably come back to teach at Campo Alegre the following year. She said they were always looking for American teachers. “You can stay with me during the summer,” she said, “until you get your apartment.” The American… Continue reading You Can Take the Girl Out of Iowa

The Princeton Ploy

It was her third day as a freshman at Temple University in Philadelphia. Sue was riding the elevator with her friends between Hardwick and Johnson Hall when he got on. He had all of his stuff. He was moving in. “School started already,” one of her friends said. “I was in San Diego,” he said.… Continue reading The Princeton Ploy

Designer Dogs, 200th Post

As I watch the end of the Oscars with a little dog cozied up in the chair with me and my sister asking when she can go to bed, I think back on the man I met the other night, the one who wants to get a Doodle Dane, a cross breed between a Great… Continue reading Designer Dogs, 200th Post