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?
Category: memoir
Mountain Lion
The latest mountain lion attack got me to thinking about how we humans hike, bike, and enter into mountain lion territory and should know what to do in the event that we run into one. The newspaper article today tells about the two mountain bikers in Washington this past weekend that encountered a mountain lion.… Continue reading Mountain Lion
Worker Woes in Monterey
I went down to my little beach house to see how the trees came out after the tree trimmers did their work and how the new fences turned out after the fence company built them. I hadn’t been there in person because of my dogs. I trusted that the companies I hired would do a… Continue reading Worker Woes in Monterey
Rescue Dog, Month # 10
We’ve been to three Manners classes so far, and Daisy is the class flunky. Every other dog (both younger and bigger) can do a down stay and a sit stay. Daisy can sit, and that’s about it. I have learned to ask her to sit before she eats and before her walk. She used to… Continue reading Rescue Dog, Month # 10
It’s a Jungle Out There
I saw a coyote yesterday during my strength and training class at the senior center. There are so many people in the drop-in class that I have to stand right in front of the glass doors, with a view of the hills filled with wild turkeys, birds, and now Wiley Coyote. My back hurts more… Continue reading It’s a Jungle Out There
Playing Hooky
Last night I skipped my dog’s Manners class. I paid for it back in August after two of my children said that the rescue dog could use some manners. I went to the first class, second class, and third class. Yesterday I’d had it with my week thus far. Too many things were going wrong.… Continue reading Playing Hooky
Piglet in a Box
Carin was working, cutting her stepsister’s hair at the salon her mom owned. Her cell phone vibrated. She never took calls during work. All of her friends and family knew that. It vibrated again, a second call from the same number. She picked up. It was her ex boyfriend, Rob. Rob was two ex-boyfriends ago.… Continue reading Piglet in a Box
First Date Red Flags
Okay, you said yes to the guy who asked you out two years ago and you turned him down. Now he has shown up at a dancing venue in Concord on the same day you wondered whatever happened to him. You see, he lives in San Francisco and you live in Suburbia. Then you agree… Continue reading First Date Red Flags
Smoky Day
It’s September 15th, tax day if you’re self-employed, and an end of summer day deep in the heart of fire season if you live in California. Our worst fires have been in October, so we have weeks to go before it rains again. The sky is dark this morning, but it’s not from rain clouds,… Continue reading Smoky Day
Best Laid Plans
It was a Sunday. I was supposed to be going to a birthday party in Antioch, forty minutes away. But the day had become a comedy of errors. I had sweet-talked my son into installing my new printer and had lured him over with the promise of pizza for lunch. It took him longer to… Continue reading Best Laid Plans
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 