memoir – Page 92 – FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER!

My Favorite Oak Tree

August 23, 2021August 25, 2021 Posted in bobcat, fences, gardening, memoir, neighbors, pine tree, sunand shade, tree hugger, trees, valley oak, [pine treeLeave a comment

I can’t stop my neighbors from making bad decisions, like three years ago when the neighbors kitty corner and below me cut down five large pine trees and changed my back yard forever. I lost a number of plants to the afternoon sun, plants that had established themselves in shade. My own small pine tree… Continue reading My Favorite Oak Tree

Peace Corps Fail

August 22, 2021August 21, 2021 Posted in dogs, memoir, Midwestern, Peace Corps, postal service, relationships, Spain, teaching, travel, Venezuela1 Comment

(re-run) It was in the spring of my first year of teaching when the call came. I was at Greenwood Elementary in Greenwood, Nebraska. I had applied to the Peace Corps the year before. They had just seen my application. They wanted to fly me to Chicago for an interview that weekend. They gave me… Continue reading Peace Corps Fail

Daisy’s New Perch

August 18, 2021August 17, 2021 Posted in animal rescue, animal training, barking, Christmas, dog behaviors, dogs, gardeners, memoir, park, quiltLeave a comment

(re-run) My suburban house is dumb. The small bedrooms are on the front of the house, with the family room tucked behind the garage. There are no good windows for Daisy to see out of, no couch to jump upon to watch the street. Until the day I cleaned my office. I ended up pushing… Continue reading Daisy’s New Perch

Mountain Lion

August 17, 2021August 17, 2021 Posted in biking, California, escape, hiking, humor, memoir, Mendocino, nature, relationships, survival, Van Damme State Park, Washington, worstLeave a comment

(re-run) The latest mountain lion attack got me to thinking about how we humans hike, bike, and enter into cougar country 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

Grandma’s Basement

August 17, 2021August 16, 2021 Posted in basement, childhood, confidence, dungeon, grandma, grandpa, kindergarten, memoir, playpen, sarcasm, shame, teacher, wringer washerLeave a comment

(re-run) My grandfather and his dad built a house into the side of a hill. The main floor had three small bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room and stairs to the kitchen below. The kitchen looked out over the hill down to the creek and had windows and a back door with a screen door.… Continue reading Grandma’s Basement

The Story of my Rescue Puppy, Pepper

August 16, 2021August 16, 2021 Posted in animal adoption, animal rescue, ARF, break-ins, burglaries, California, care giver, dog training, dogs, firsts, humor, Jack Russell terrier, labrador, memoir, pit bullLeave a comment

I laughed out loud. I had joked about a getting a pit bull, and the universe had dropped two of them in my path.

Do Nerds Laugh?

August 15, 2021August 11, 2021 Posted in attitude, California, family, friends, humor, joke, last, memoir, relationships, research paper, scientist, video, worstLeave a comment

(re-run) Yesterday, at my bi-monthly massage at the chiropractor’s, Curtis the masseur asked me lots of questions to help the 55 minute session go by. I was chatting away as he rubbed the kinks out of my neck, shoulder and lower back, telling him this and that, until he came around to the big question,… Continue reading Do Nerds Laugh?

Asparagus, Anyone?

August 14, 2021August 11, 2021 Posted in farm, firsts, gardening, humor, memoir, Midwestern, Nebraska, relationships, roommateLeave a comment

(re-run) 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,… Continue reading Asparagus, Anyone?

God and the Pandemic

August 14, 2021August 14, 2021 Posted in carpool, Christian school, Covid 19, God, horse, kindergarten, memoir, pandemic, vaccineLeave a comment

My oldest child went to a Christian school for kindergarten. It was tied to the church that ran her preschool. She turned out to be the youngest one in the class, a full year younger than her carpool mate. They shared an October birthday. Let’s call that girl Shannon. Let’s call her mom Debbie. I’ll… Continue reading God and the Pandemic

Dance with Me, Young Jeremy

August 13, 2021August 11, 2021 Posted in dancing, dating, humor, memoir, Nebraska, Omaha, relationships, restaurant, worstsLeave a comment

(re-run) Each dance bar in Omaha ended the night with its signature song. One bar closed with Last Dance by Donna Summer, another used Shout from the Blues Brothers movie (by the Isley Brothers) as its sign-off song. But my fave dance bar closed with the song New York, New York. It seemed an odd… Continue reading Dance with Me, Young Jeremy