Category: Iowa

Pennies from Heaven

Posted in college, drugs, Eric Clapton, firsts, head shop, high school, humor, Iowa, J.J. Cale, memoir, music, relationships, smokingLeave a comment

(re-run) When I was sixteen, I saved up 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… Continue reading Pennies from Heaven

Give Them a Chance

Posted in artist, books, California, children, Chinese food, Chinese restaurant, daughter, donations, garage sales, Iowa, library, memoir, parents, self-fulfilling prophecy, teacher, teaching, writersLeave a comment

It’s funny how something pops into your brain and you think, that would make a good blog post. Today I mailed 100 books to a librarian in Menlo Park. They are old kids’ books that my children read back in the day.  My librarian Facebook friend asked for books for her students to read this… Continue reading Give Them a Chance

A Great Dane Story

Posted in animal training, Barbie, birds and bees, dog manners, dogs, friends, Great Danes, humor, Iowa, Ken, memoir, parents, relationships, teensLeave a comment

When I was almost thirteen, I hung out at my neighbor Bonnie’s house, just one block away from mine, but it was different world.  Both her parents worked full time, so we teens could hang there with no parental supervision. We were supervised, though, by the family’s Great Danes. I remember three dogs, but there… Continue reading A Great Dane Story

Prairie Girl in the Woods

Posted in aging, birdfeeder, California, Iowa, Meals on Wheels, memoir, mom, moon, mothers, prairie, redwoods, relationships, relatives, Santa Cruz, sister, sky, sunset, TV dinners, UncategorizedLeave a comment

My mother grew up in Iowa and lived there for 88 years.  Then she moved in with my younger sister and her hubby in the Santa Cruz mountains in California. It’s dark in the redwood forest, especially in the winter.  Mom can’t see the sky, which is hard when you’ve looked at the sky every… Continue reading Prairie Girl in the Woods

The Problem with the Midwest

Posted in California, CDC, conspiracy theory, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Facebook, Iowa, lockdown, memoir, Midwestern, Nebraska, politics, president, virus, World Health Organization, ZoomLeave a comment

I am from Iowa (now a Californian), so I think I can write about this without being accused of cultural appropriation. People in the Midwest are insulated from a lot of what is happening right now. It’s true that two meat-packing plants have had to close down due to the Covid-19 virus, but most people… Continue reading The Problem with the Midwest

A Murphy’s Law Kind of Post

Posted in Costco, dryer, estate sale, Fiestaware, humor, Iowa, judgment, Lladro, Monterey Bay, Murphy's Law, relationships, retail, sales tax, thrift store1 Comment

(re-run) I love thrift stores. I buy pretty much everything there, which is great because that way I am not paying retail and usually don’t pay sales tax, either. I don’t get the extra packaging that is so hard to get things out of.  It sometimes takes a team of rocket scientists to figure out… Continue reading A Murphy’s Law Kind of Post

My Two Gophers

Posted in beach, birdfeeder, birds, California, contractor, Coronavirus, Covid 19, cows, gophers, Iowa, memoir, squirrelsLeave a comment

Now before you tell me that gophers are solitary creatures and that I only have one gopher, let me explain that I have a little beach house with a gopher and my regular house with a gopher. I am an Iowa girl, living in California. So both houses were bought because of the property that… Continue reading My Two Gophers