The last time I saw the Beatles cover band in the Santa Cruz mountains hippie town of Felton, I noticed that most of the crowd was coupled off, and most of the couples didn’t dance. They were too old, having been die-hard Beatles fans for fifty years. It was a shame. The floor is real… Continue reading The White Album
Category: memoir
More Uses for a Nine Year Old
Another trip to the beach, another weekend with a nine year old. While her mom toiled away at all the things I can no longer do, I got to spend time with a smart but headstrong little girl who rarely eats healthy food. My goal was to get her to learn her times tables. You… Continue reading More Uses for a Nine Year Old
Judging from the Trends
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 put… Continue reading Judging from the Trends
Only Human
It had been a busy day. After exercise class, I stopped at Costco to buy Sis a TV. The board and care home didn’t have one for her bedroom, and she wasn’t willing to go to the living room to watch it with the other five residents. She wasn’t willing to do much of anything.… Continue reading Only Human
Best Ed Sullivan Show Ever
Carol grew up in in Pueblo, Colorado. They called it the little Pittsburg of the West. Her dad was a steelworker. Her mom was a lab tech phlebotomist at the hospital. Whenever one of the kids got sick, her mom would bring home a hypodermic needle in her purse to draw some blood. “To see… Continue reading Best Ed Sullivan Show Ever
Interfacing with Nature
I live in a town that backs up to a gorgeous mountain in the middle of an otherwise flat part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Bicyclists come from all over to climb the mountain and then get their joy ride on the way down the winding road. The hiking here is phenomenal, and the… Continue reading Interfacing with Nature
Worst Roommate Ever
By the time I graduated college, I’d had somewhere close to 37 roommates: the first two in the triple room my freshman year, the next two in another triple when I changed dorms after one quarter, my solo roommate all of sophomore year, then the string of roomies after I moved into the sorority. Every… Continue reading Worst Roommate Ever
Worst Boss Ever
Aside from the old-guy boss I had for ten days at the Iowa State Fair, who took one look at my giraffe legs in my short culottes jumper I’d made in sewing class and demanded that I bend over to see if my butt would show (it didn’t), George was the worst boss ever. George… Continue reading Worst Boss Ever
Don’t Let the Bugs Bug You
When my new science teacher announced on the first day of 7th grade that no one would get an A in his class if they didn’t make an insect collection, I was like, “NOOOOOOOO! I hate bugs!” My mother hated bugs. Her mother hated bugs. They hated mice, snakes, and dog poop, too. I walked… Continue reading Don’t Let the Bugs Bug You
Father’s Day Hike
Several years ago on Father’s Day, my three kids went with to their dad’s for a bbq, and I went on a late-day hike with my (now ex) boyfriend. He’s one of those guys who doesn’t believe in rules and always thinks his way is the only way. We took a hike on the west… Continue reading Father’s Day Hike
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 