(re-run) Long ago, in my previous married life, I was a Girl Scout leader for my youngest child and the girls her age at the elementary school. I was supposed to get CPR training, so I went to the classes and got certified. Maybe someday I’ll need it while doing a scout activity. As it… Continue reading When CPR Class Pays Off
Category: memoir
Lime Vodka, Raisinets, and Cheesecake
(re-run) It’s an American teenager’s rite of passage to get sick the first time they drink. I was no exception. Aside from tasting different liqueurs on babysitting jobs after the kids went to bed, I had only tasted my dad’s beer, Schlitz. No thank you. I was not a fan of fizzy bitter fermentation. So… Continue reading Lime Vodka, Raisinets, and Cheesecake
The Saga of the Spider
(re-run) Today at my sister’s board and care home, as I was reading her the newspaper, I glanced out the large sliding glass door and noticed a huge spider web with a spider in the center. It was one and a half inches across and yellow with red stripes on the legs. I took several… Continue reading The Saga of the Spider
A Ghost Story
(re-run) This is not 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.… Continue reading A Ghost Story
Letting Go
(re-run) My cars sit out in the summer. There’s no way they can go into the garage. Fires are burning north of here and have been for weeks. The Bay Area air is smoky. I look at the blue plastic tubs of flammable clothing and think, “It would take days for all of this to… Continue reading Letting Go
Living with a Ratter
The change in the weather is the time to handle the rat situation. How does one know she has rats under her house? Just ask any terrier who might happen to live with you. Terriers were bred to find and kill rodents. Daisy is Jack Russell terrier. I didn’t know how bad my rat problem… Continue reading Living with a Ratter
The Value of Rock and Roll Music
John Lennon is turning over in his grave. One of his biggest songs, All You Need is Love, is now a GAP commercial with Katy Perry singing it as she poses for the camera in GAP clothing. If only John, Paul, and their manager, Brian Epstein, had had a clue about contracts and song rights… Continue reading The Value of Rock and Roll Music
The Neighbors, the Loose Pitbull, and the Daily Pooper
(re-run) We bought a house on a street that was a long court with two courts coming off of it. We were up at the top, and it was a great and safe place for my kids to walk our greyhound mix dog. Until it wasn’t. “That was a short walk,” I said when they… Continue reading The Neighbors, the Loose Pitbull, and the Daily Pooper
Nature’s Prayer Moment
(re-run) Yesterday morning I stepped up to the kitchen sink to fill the tea pot and looked out my window at the flowers exploding in my yard. I glanced over to the fountain where I saw dozens of identical birds taking drinks in a clumped up circle around the top of my round fountain. Their… Continue reading Nature’s Prayer Moment
Musical Cleaning Day (waiting for plumber)
(re-run) I am cleaning today. The plumber said he’d be here by mid-morning, but it wasn’t not looking good. I worked on a review for a new children’s book coming out next month. I watched some Dry Bar Comedy while I digested my breakfast. That is no longer a multi-tasking feature of my aging body.… Continue reading Musical Cleaning Day (waiting for plumber)
