Every year I drive to Oakland for the most awesome day at the White Elephant Sale. The women’s board of the Oakland Museum own a warehouse in Fruitvale, and they fill it up for their annual event. If you know someone who works the sale, they can give you passes so that you can get… Continue reading Pioneer Lady
Category: memoir
Asparagus, Anyone?
The farmhouse was next to the highway, close enough for me to hear the train come by every night, and far enough away from the tracks to get used to sleeping through it. No houses could be seen from any window — just trees, sky, and lots of cornfields. It was a peaceful place, sometimes… Continue reading Asparagus, Anyone?
Prince Not So Charming
(re-run) He was dressed as Prince Charming. I was dressed as a 1930’s nurse from Samuel Merritt Nursing School in Oakland, admittedly a weird Halloween costume, but the woman at the estate sale had practically given it to me after I bought $200 worth of antiques for my vintage shop. My friend, Nancy, her niece,… Continue reading Prince Not So Charming
Judging from the Trends
(re-run) I was asked to judge a picture book contest. I am a picture book author of 29 books and also a mom of past picture-book fans. Picture books are books with both words and art, usually 28 to 64 pages, and usually for young children. The gift book people have figured out how to… Continue reading Judging from the Trends
Don’t Stand Up!
(re-run) It was a long train ride from Lima to Cuzco, or maybe it was from Cuzco to Machu Picchu. At any rate, I was on a train with a bunch of Peruvians and my roommate, Kristy. Trains give me motion sickness, as do boats, cars, planes, swings, and carnival rides. It’s a miracle that… Continue reading Don’t Stand Up!
Don’t Stand Up!
It was a long train ride from Lima to Cuzco, or maybe it was from Cuzco to Machu Picchu. At any rate, I was on a train with a bunch of Peruvians and my roommate, Kristy. Trains give me motion sickness, as do boats, cars, planes, swings, and carnival rides. It’s a miracle that I’ve… Continue reading Don’t Stand Up!
On Guardian Angels
(re-run) A friend and I had a glass of wine together the other night and reflected back on our lives and the times we should have been died but didn’t. Some would call it luck. Others would call it having a guardian angel. Some would say that was a weird way to spend an evening.… Continue reading On Guardian Angels
Snow Day
(re-run) Many of my Medicare friends are moving or contemplating moving to retirement communities. A big one close to my town is called Rossmoor. It’s a huge gated community built back in the sixties and contains 6700 residential units surrounded by open space. At least one resident in each unit must be at least fifty-five… Continue reading Snow Day
The Scars of our Lives
When you get to be my age, you are bound to have a few scars. I haven’t had any big surgeries, but I do have scars from burns, bumps, and scrapes along the way. Right now it’s my thumb that is most noticeable. I broke it by pulling down a three-piece sectional garage door an… Continue reading The Scars of our Lives
The Blond-tourage
Every woman over fifty gets the same advice from her hairdresser — lighten up your hair. As our skin fades and our looks do, too, we need brighter lipstick, sparkly-er clothing and blonder locks to stay looking as young as we can. My apologies to women of color; this may not apply to you. So… Continue reading The Blond-tourage
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 