(re-run) This isn’t a Halloween story. No words written in blood on the hallway walls, no moaning spirits or flickering lights, or candles blowing themselves out. Just a feeling of not being alone. Ghosts, if you will, leftover energy from those who came before us. As a child I was called the sensitive one. I… Continue reading A Ghost Story
Category: memoir
A Scary Five Seconds
(re-run) I had followed the same routine dozens of times. Arriving in my beach town, the dogs got excited and wanted out of the car. There’d been an accident in San Jose, so we were running a half hour behind. Daisy (Jack Russell) started barking and pulling on her tether as soon as we got… Continue reading A Scary Five Seconds
Ten-year-old Girl Meets Fire
(re-run) It was a Saturday night, and the woman who works for me was extra tired from her long honey-do list. We had just put on Footloose when she said, “I’m going to bed.” “Good night,” I said, looking at her ten year old daughter who was wearing my boots from forty years ago and… Continue reading Ten-year-old Girl Meets Fire
The Dog Whisperer
(re-run) My son moved in with me. He’s managed to get the super anxious, high-strung Jack Russell terrier to roll over onto her back when she sees him coming. She allows belly rubs to happen. This is huge. I’ve been massaging Daisy Dog ever since pandemic life went online with Zoom. She knows to sit… Continue reading The Dog Whisperer
Worst Quake Ever
1989 — We’d been in California for almost four years, two Midwestern transplants with a split-level house and two babies. It was our daughter’s third birthday, so Hubby took the day off, and we went to the Oakland zoo. The birthday party with playmates would be the next day. After as much fun as anyone… Continue reading Worst Quake Ever
Smooth Operator
His name was Ryan, and he wore the brightest shirts – screaming teal, bullfighter red, and obnoxious orange. It was easy to pick him out of the crowd. He was a dancer at the Thursday night venues and would come find me each night for one dance. “I just want you to know,” he’d say… Continue reading Smooth Operator
Be Careful What You Wish For
(re-run) I’ve lived in my little house for seven years and four months. The neighborhood is about 48 years old, and the trees that are here are huge. My pie-shaped lot is wide and shallow in the back. Las Trampas Ridge is due west, beyond the freeway, but I could not see it because of… Continue reading Be Careful What You Wish For
When You Hit a Girl with your Truck
(re-run) I wasn’t texting. I wasn’t speeding. I hadn’t been drinking. Otherwise I would’ve killed her. She ran out in front of me at 4 o’clock on a Monday afternoon. I didn’t see her until her long hair was flying up in front of my hood. I slammed on the brakes and sat there in… Continue reading When You Hit a Girl with your Truck
What to Do instead of Going Online
It’s amazing once a person takes the internet out of the daily equation, just how much she can get done. And how she doesn’t miss it all that much. And how she has time to write about not missing it. As technology goes, I could take it or leave it. I still shop at real… Continue reading What to Do instead of Going Online
Hitchhiking Story
When I was 20, I sold books door to door that summer in Ohio for Southwestern Company. The regional boss told me at our Sunday meeting to spend a day working with one of his ace sellers. The problem was, I didn’t have a car to get to the town where he worked. The boss… Continue reading Hitchhiking Story
