(re-run) My friends post photos of themselves gallivanting through our green hills dotted with wildflowers. It’s California, we are having the driest February in 160 years, and the pollen is exploding everywhere. My nose itches by just looking at the photos of the greenery. I bought an air purifier. I dug out my Flonase. I… Continue reading Ah Choo! It’s Allergy Season
Category: memoir
The Weakest Link – my Low Back
(re-run from 2020) The good thing about the current Coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown is that I have a hundred projects to finish. Suddenly I have nothing but time to do it all. Everything was going along swimmingly yesterday. I exercised. I painted (spray-painted picture frames), I picked up dog poop. I did a heavy load of… Continue reading The Weakest Link – my Low Back
Male Egos ‘R’ Us
(re-run) Decades ago, when I was the mother of a two-year-old girl and hugely pregnant with another child, our little family took a Sunday drive down to Dublin to visit the toy store. I was lost in a world of motherhood, tolerating acid-inducing fetal kicks and not paying attention to what was happening outside of… Continue reading Male Egos ‘R’ Us
My Three-quarter Bike Ride
(re-run) I was the one that suggested the bike ride with two of my adult children. They don’t spend much time outdoors or get enough exercise. They like to ride the Iron Horse trail. It is an easy, shady railroad right of way that connects towns up and down the I- 680 corridor in the… Continue reading My Three-quarter Bike Ride
Naming the Rescue Dog
(re-run) The day after Christmas I bought myself a belated gift. I got an adult dog to be a buddy to my exuberant two year old dog. I’d been to the Martinez animal services shelter the week before, since they had so many dogs (140) and were giving them away. It was cold and damp… Continue reading Naming the Rescue Dog
The Escape Artist
When my son was born, he came out angry, two weeks early and mad as hell. “He looks like a prosecutor,” the nurses said. Fast forward two years. He wouldn’t hold my hand while walking to and from the car. He wouldn’t hold my hand in parking lots. He was always running away inside of… Continue reading The Escape Artist
The Thrill of the Deal
(re-run from 2021) Before the pandemic, I would go to a thrift store every week. I had thrift-store withdrawals in late March, but what could I do? They were shut down for the pandemic. Then in May, when many of them reopened, I was one of the hundreds of people looking for a place to… Continue reading The Thrill of the Deal
Getting Away from all the No, No, No’s
(re-run) My mother, bless her heart, had to keep five children in line, mostly by herself. She did it by keeping everyone in his or her place, as in, “No, you can’t do that!” I just found out that my younger sister also wanted to play clarinet in the band, like I did. But I… Continue reading Getting Away from all the No, No, No’s
One Week Until Daylight Savings, Two Weeks Until Spring
(re-run) There’s a blizzard going on in Tahoe right now, a late winter dump of snow. We had rain for three days, thunder and lightning in the middle of the night. Daisy Dog hid under the bed. Looking outside the window, I see gray skies and leafless trees, except for the pines. One ornamental plum… Continue reading One Week Until Daylight Savings, Two Weeks Until Spring
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
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 