(re-run from 2018) In my 33 years in California (one and a half down south, the rest up north), I can’t remember a fall where we have not had a drop of rain by mid-November. I also can’t remember ever having three big fires in less than two years that have burned down whole communities… Continue reading A Different Kind of Fall
Category: relationships
Don’t Judge a Book
(re-run) Of all the pick-up lines I’ve ever heard, the best one came yesterday at the Walnut Creek Octoberfest. “Now those are some sensible shoes.” Yes, I had on one-inch-heel black booties because I was dressed as a German beer garden maid, and they were the best shoes with white knee socks. “They’re good for… Continue reading Don’t Judge a Book
The Racist, the Ficus Tree, and my Garage Sale
(re-run) When I was six, the one black boy in my elementary school was in my class. His name was Teddy. This was white-white-white Iowa in the 60s. My first grade teacher, Mrs. Van Cura, got angry at the class one day for misbehaving and said, “Whoever doesn’t behave will have to play with Teddy… Continue reading The Racist, the Ficus Tree, and my Garage Sale
First Dog, Lost Dog
(re-run) After moving to farm country to teach high school Spanish, I watched my roommate Kristy come home one day with a German Shephard puppy. “Meet Shane!” she said. She hadn’t asked me. She hadn’t asked the landlord. When she did ask him, his response was, “Not in the house.” Kristy made Shane a bed… Continue reading First Dog, Lost Dog
My Free Farm Dog
(re-run) I saw three Aussie-mix puppies today. They are ten to twelve weeks old and gorgeous! I remember Pepper as a puppy just four years ago. I am too old to house-train another puppy. But they were so cute! I had a Brittany spaniel/Australian Blue Heeler mix puppy way back in the day. My future… Continue reading My Free Farm Dog
Street Dance
(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
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
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 