(re-run) After hiking six miles with the senior group called DASH, which does not dash at all, but rather hikes slowly through the woods with plenty of stops for bathroom breaks, snack breaks, or count-up-and-regroup breaks, I was too pooped to go out dancing. But my friends were going, it was close (just one town… Continue reading Street Dance
Category: relationships
Me Too
(re-run) He was one of five professors in the tiny Spanish department at Iowa State. I had him for both semesters of Spanish Two, and I’d just landed a summer job, selling books door to door in a mystery state after a week’s training in Nashville. The bus for me and the other recruits was… Continue reading Me Too
My Greatly-damaged Rescue Dog
(re-run) It’s been eighteen months since I adopted Daisy. The day after Christmas, 2017, I went out and got my dog Pepper a dog. Pepper has looked at me sideways many times since that fateful decision. Why did you get a Jack Russell? Why did you get this Jack Russell? Why does she growl at… Continue reading My Greatly-damaged Rescue Dog
The Missing GPS Gene
(re-run) The women in my family are spatially challenged, as in, which way is south? West ? North? East? I remembered that the northwest corner of the basement was supposed to be the safest place in case of a tornado, but I had no idea which corner that would be. Now that I live near… Continue reading The Missing GPS Gene
Loneliest Study Abroad Ever
(re-run) After three months in South America and six weeks of student teaching Catholic high school girls, I headed to Burgos, Spain, with 30 students and a handful of professors from Iowa State and the University of Iowa. It would be my way of earning the final credits of my dual degree. Linda, a high… Continue reading Loneliest Study Abroad Ever
Same Old Grind
(re-run) Advanced bruxism – that’s what it’s called when you clench and grind your teeth in your sleep. I didn’t know I had it until my dentist noticed my worn lower teeth at a check-up. She made me a mouth guard to save them. I know when it all started. It was in the big… Continue reading Same Old Grind
Worst Fake Friend Ever
(re-run) When I moved to suburbia in the Bay Area, I joined the town’s Newcomer’s club and then joined the babysitting co-op within the club. We were all new mothers with one or two children, and the thirty of us traded babysitting with coupons while our little families grew bigger. My two-year-old daughter bonded with… Continue reading Worst Fake Friend Ever
Sneaking into the Pool
(re-run) While student teaching in Venezuela, my roommate and partner in crime learned how to have fun with not much money. One of the American teachers had stolen a couple of striped beach towels from an upscale hotel, and she had been sneaking into the hotel pool for years. “Just carry the towel and act… Continue reading Sneaking into the Pool
Do You Want a Cookie, Little Girl?
(re-run) She ran a personal ad in the Contra Costa Times: Single white female looking for single Asian man. Her two previous boyfriends had been Asian. James called and left a message with his phone number on a Friday night. The next morning Pam checked her phone messages. She liked his voice as she listened… Continue reading Do You Want a Cookie, Little Girl?
Best Summer Day Camp Ever
(re-run) My two daughters were Girl Scouts and went to summer day camp at Twin Canyons in Lafayette, two towns over. In order to get them a slot, I volunteered to work the entire week. I did it for eleven years and enjoyed getting to meet every camper there (about 200 each year). I chose… Continue reading Best Summer Day Camp Ever
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 