(re-run) This isn’t a Halloween story. No words are 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
Category: relationships
Looking for Jade in Alaska
(re-run) Sophia lived in Sonoma County and took her new dog to the beach. The black lab needed a name. An old man was there looking at pebbles in the water. She struck up a conversation with him, and he told her he was looking for Jade. On the way home, Sophia decided Jade was… Continue reading Looking for Jade in Alaska
More Machu Picchu
(part two) Christy and I finished our breakfast at the hotel up at the top and looked into the fog. The buses wouldn’t start arriving until noon. “Let’s hike up the big mountain,” she said. “Okay,” I said. My lost and found tennis shoes were too small, but I had cut out the toes so… Continue reading More Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu Before It Was a Thing
(re-run) It was 1977. I was finishing up ten weeks of student teaching in an American oil school in Caracas, Venezuela. My roommate, Christy, wanted to travel for two weeks before we went home to the states. She wanted to visit Machu Picchu in Peru. I’d never heard of it. “It’s the lost city of… Continue reading Machu Picchu Before It Was a Thing
Daisy Rescue Dog, Let the Fur Fly # 6
Two steps forward, one step back. Things seem fine, and then the new Jack Russell rescue dog named Daisy attacks the raised-from-a-puppy lab/border-collie/pit bull mix named Pepper. What the fluff? What happened? Things were going so well. The advantage of having a white dog is that you can see every scratch and bite on it.… Continue reading Daisy Rescue Dog, Let the Fur Fly # 6
The Cat Lady
(re-run) She seemed normal enough. James met her on the softball diamond — he was playing, shortstop, she played second base. It was a singles club event for Labor Day. He wasn’t an actual member but showed up on the holidays. Beth was sort of cute, her body pretty good for fifty plus. He was… Continue reading The Cat Lady
The Conflict Within
I am usually quick at decisions, and I am happy with them. No, I will not jump out of an airplane. No, I will not go on that upside-down roller coaster. Yes, I will dance with you. Yes, I will come to your party. Every now and then I get myself stuck between the little… Continue reading The Conflict Within
Holiday Heartache
(re-run from 2019) As I sit here on a Sunday afternoon, I have fluffy white “Iowa” clouds (cumulus) out the windows across the back of my house. I used to look into a wall, but that baby is gone, and now I have nature. This month has been so full already, three chorus concerts with… Continue reading Holiday Heartache
Watch Out for the Green Pepper
I can’t eat green pepper. I can’t eat a lot of things. The older I get, the more things I need a certain way to keep me happy. When I was four years into a past relationship, I knew it was in trouble when the boyfriend started adding green pepper to everything he served me.… Continue reading Watch Out for the Green Pepper
Orphan Thanksgiving and the Babe Mobile
Bruce was a lieutenant in the navy, and he lived with four bachelor roommates. They’d been out to sea for six months and were back for six months. A guy could save up a lot of money in six months, so Bruce was able to buy a silver Jaguar xke convertible. He nicknamed it his… Continue reading Orphan Thanksgiving and the Babe Mobile
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 