The Day I Found my Voice

(re-run) When you’re in the dog house, you are in trouble. You’ve done something bad. As a child, I was never in the dog house because we didn’t have one. We didn’t even have a dog. My mother had her own strain of weird expressions that she said to us kids on a regular basis,… Continue reading The Day I Found my Voice

It Must Be Getting Close to Summer when . . .

(re-run from 2019) I am sitting in my fave chair. My adult son just told me over the phone how to unfreeze my laptop (turn it off and then back on).  I can hear the squeak, squeak, squeak of the swings in the park next to me. The windows are open just enough to let… Continue reading It Must Be Getting Close to Summer when . . .

Not Your Typical Monday

(re-run) Ellen DeGeneres has a special twelve-day Christmas giveaway on her show this month. I have rearranged my schedule to be at my sister’s board and care home at 4:00 each day so that we can watch the audience go wild when they get free stuff. It seems like a nice break from the fixer-upper… Continue reading Not Your Typical Monday

Must Be a Small Town

(re-run) I went to my favorite beach town for 24 hours to get away from it all. The weather was foggy, the weeds in my yard were thick, and my two dogs were fighting.  But three thrift stores in Carmel had their end-of-the-month half-off sales yesterday, so who cared about the weather, the weeds and… Continue reading Must Be a Small Town

Chinese Fire Drills and Other Politically Incorrect Things from my Past

(re-run) Back in high school in a suburb of Des Moines, Iowa, we did whatever we could to stir up some fun and sometimes some trouble. It was a simple existence: go to school, do homework, think about and look for boys. With no cell phones or social media to organize anything, kids spent a… Continue reading Chinese Fire Drills and Other Politically Incorrect Things from my Past

Be Careful Who You Hike With

(re-run) First of all, the title should be Be Careful with Whom You Hike, but I figured only English teachers would read the post if I did it that way. An old bf asked me to go on a hike with him. I said yes a little too quickly. Looking back, Bob (not his real… Continue reading Be Careful Who You Hike With

Hold the Crunch

(re-run) Jim earned his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He took a job with Proctor and Gamble in Cincinnati, which had just started buying up food brands, like cake mixes and peanut butter. Jim’s job was to put the crunch in the new peanut butter, Jif. One machine chopped the peanuts into… Continue reading Hold the Crunch

Sorry About That

(re-run) Aileen, in her early 50s, had a date that neither she, nor the guy, will ever forget. They met online. He suggested a hike out to the Black Diamond Mines in Antioch. She agreed, although she wasn’t much of a hiker. During the hike and while climbing in and out of the mine tunnels,… Continue reading Sorry About That

Love Again

(re-run) K.T. and her friend Toni, both divorced, joined the singles’ ski club in the fall. When they found out about the Snow Ball, where five ski clubs came together for dinner and dancing to live rock and roll music, they decided to go together. Rex had been in the club for years. He had… Continue reading Love Again