Category: memoir

If Only I’d Known

Posted in 2020, brain, college, disco, fingernails, flirting, hindsight, hindsight is 2020, medications, memoir, Monica on Friends, Monk, OCD, rape, risk, risk averse, Spain, VenezuelaLeave a comment

As they say, hindsight is 2020, which is referring to your vision, not what year it is. As in, your vision about what happened in the past is pretty good, now that you’ve had time to look at all the angles and analyze it. Looking back over my OCD life, I now understand that it… Continue reading If Only I’d Known

Behind Closed Doors

Posted in abuse, attitude, basement, brother, Catholic, childhood, Facebook, gender roles, high school, Iowa, junior high school, memoir, physical abuse, relationships, worstLeave a comment

I read a great memoir about a girl’s tough childhood, with violence, danger, and an abusive older brother. I recommended it to Facebook friends online. A friend said she didn’t like it because she didn’t think the book rang true. “The Mormon part or the survivalist part?” I asked her. “Neither.” She didn’t think anyone… Continue reading Behind Closed Doors

Whole Court Shake-up

Posted in Bay Area, California, children, girls, Las Trampas Ridge, memoir, moving, neighborhood, neighbors, pandemic, party, real estateLeave a comment

Ten years ago, I moved to the best little court in my town, in the suburbs of the Bay Area.  At the time, it was a court filled with girls – two grade-school girls across the street (they moved in five months after I did), two same-aged girls next to them, a baby girl bordering… Continue reading Whole Court Shake-up

My Three-quarter Bike Ride

Posted in biking, California, children, exercise, handy woman, Iron Horse Trail, lunch, melanoma, memoir, pandemic, railroadLeave a comment

I was the one that suggested the bike ride.  My adult children don’t spend enough time outdoors or get enough exercise. They do like to ride the Iron Horse trail, an easy, shady railroad right of way that connects towns up and down the I- 680 corridor. I knew I had them when I suggested… Continue reading My Three-quarter Bike Ride

Daisy Strikes Again

Posted in alarm, animal adoption, animal rescue, bucket, cell phone, flashlight, fountain, hiking, humor, memoir, rats, relationships, sleepLeave a comment

(re-run) After a five mile hike, my legs ached and wanted to go to bed. I turned off the news at 10:15, brushed my teeth, washed my face, and then headed down the hall to the main bathroom with the doggy door. Both dogs were outside barking. I turned around and went to the kitchen… Continue reading Daisy Strikes Again

Sneaking into the Pool

Posted in airport, Angel Falls, beach, Canaima, dysentery, hotel pool, humor, Iowa State University, memoir, microbes, relationships, teaching, travel, Venezuela, worstLeave a comment

(re-run) While student teaching in Venezuela, we learned how to have fun with not much money. One of the American teachers had stolen a couple of striped beach towels from an upscale hotel, and she had been sneaking into the hotel pool for years. “Just carry the towel and act like you belong,” Linda said.… Continue reading Sneaking into the Pool

The Whole-house Shake-up

Posted in children, doggie door, dogs, empty nester, Etsy, fitbit, memoir, mom, mom handbook, moving, relatives, sewing roomLeave a comment

My son is moving in.  I offered him the bedroom furthest from mine, so that he can make a sandwich at midnight, and I can sleep through it. It was my sewing room, filled to the brim. On Monday my helper woman took the twin bed apart in the bedroom closest to mine.  Then she… Continue reading The Whole-house Shake-up

You Know You’ve Been Alone Too Long When . . .

Posted in Barbie, beach, board and care, care giver, Coronavirus, Covid 19, dolls, flight, hot tub, humor, intervention, Ken, Medicare, memoir, neighbors, pandemic, wedding, ZoomLeave a comment

(re-run) It’s week ten or eleven of the Covid-19 lockdown — I’ve lost track. I found out in a Zoom meeting last night that two more people that I know had a nasty virus in March that caused them to lose their sense of smell and taste. They are both well over sixty, as are… Continue reading You Know You’ve Been Alone Too Long When . . .

Daydreaming on a Dog Walk

Posted in aging gracefully, animal rescue, animal training, astro turf, brain, dogs, language, memoir, neighborhood, neighbors, relationships, writingLeave a comment

(re-run) I get some of my best writing ideas while walking my dogs. My brain is free to think while my body is exercising. I am not listening to music or staring into my phone. I am enjoying the view. Today I walked Pepper, my almost four-year-old lab, while Daisy stayed home where she feels… Continue reading Daydreaming on a Dog Walk

Racism Embedded in our Language

Posted in California, Carmel, Conan O'Brien, ethnicity, language, Lone Ranger, memoir, racist, thrift store, worst1 Comment

(re-run) A few months ago, I was in Carmel visiting my favorite thrift stores. If you don’t like thrift stores, you haven’t been to the ones in Carmel!  I got into a line to pay, and when it was my turn, and the woman had rung up my $89.00 worth of purchases, I whipped out… Continue reading Racism Embedded in our Language