(re-run) First of all, the title should be Be Careful with Whom You Hike, but I figured only English teachers would read the post if I did it that way. An old bf asked me to go on a hike with him. I said yes a little too quickly. Looking back, Bob (not his real… Continue reading Be Careful Who You Hike With
Category: Iowa
Trading Up in Omaha
(re-run) Alice got a teaching job in Council Bluffs, Iowa. She decided to live across the Missouri River in Omaha in an old Victorian that had been converted into apartments. A military guy from Maryland moved in upstairs. She ran into him in the hallway after a bike ride one evening when he was coming… Continue reading Trading Up in Omaha
Three Banks, the Post Office, and a Picasso
(re-run) t’s that dreaded time of year again. April is next week and so many things are due to be paid: Estimated Federal taxes Estimated State taxes Property taxes Accountant’s bill IRA contribution I am considered self-employed, so no taxes are withheld from my pension or royalty payments. That means that four times a year,… Continue reading Three Banks, the Post Office, and a Picasso
Government Cheese and Pinto Beans
(re-run) I was nine or ten when our mom took me and my younger siblings downtown to a place to get some free food for poor people. Our dad was out of work for six weeks. My mother was humiliated. We waited in line until it was our turn. As the worker handed Mom her… Continue reading Government Cheese and Pinto Beans
Self-fulfilling Prophecy
(re-run) It was a few days before the kids would come – 7th and 8th graders. I left my job as a high school Spanish teacher and would now be teaching English to middle schoolers. It was a way to get out of a podunk town in Nebraska and into a big city in Iowa… Continue reading Self-fulfilling Prophecy
Where’s the Beef?
(re-run) My sister fell out of her recliner at her nursing home (board and care home, actually) and landed on her face and glasses. The glasses were badly bent, so I needed to go to Costco on the DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING to see if they would bend them back into shape with their magical optical… Continue reading Where’s the Beef?
Total Eclipse of the Date
(re-run) The last solar eclipse over the continental U.S. was on Monday, February 26, 1979. Claudette worked in the x-ray department at Lutheran Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa. She and her co-workers took some x-ray film and went outside to look at the sun through the film. They were not in the path of totality… Continue reading Total Eclipse of the Date
Bricks, Ricks, & Cardboard
(re-run) The college mixer was hosted by the men of Lorch House in Friley Hall, in the heart of the Iowa State University campus. Tappan House, the top two floors of Barton Hall, was invited. Yes, I am old. Yes, dorm floors are co-ed now. This was in the days of the dinosaurs, girl dinosaurs… Continue reading Bricks, Ricks, & Cardboard
A Great Dane Story
(re-run) 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… Continue reading A Great Dane Story
Highway Dog
(re-run) I’m in my little beach town, up the road a bit from Carmel. At the end of each month, the block of thrift stores in the Barnyard Shopping Center near Carmel Valley put their merchandise at 50% off for a day or two. Yellow Brick Road was on its second day of sale yesterday,… Continue reading Highway Dog
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 