Daydreaming on a Dog Walk

(re-run) I get some of my best writing ideas while walking my dogs. My brain is free to think while my body is exercising. I am not listening to music or staring into my phone. I am enjoying the view. Today I walked Pepper, my almost four-year-old lab, while Daisy stayed home where she feels… Continue reading Daydreaming on a Dog Walk

Love of her Life

(re-run) Connie was only fourteen when she went to her first dinner dance at the country club. Brad was two years older, already driving, and as handsome as could be. Connie had been smitten since the day they met at school. She had been at her locker. He had come by and said hello. She’d… Continue reading Love of her Life

Oh No, Not the Warriors!

(re-run) Last week I took Sis to the hospital for a Barium Swallow test. We had just settled into the waiting room when an elderly woman with a cane came in the door. She had to go around Sis’s wheelchair to get to the check-in window. “Am I at the right place?” she asked no… Continue reading Oh No, Not the Warriors!

Beware of Craigslist?

(re-run) I’d sold a thousand dollars’ worth of tea cups and dinner plates the year before. When Sis moved in with me, I had to let all that inventory go. It hadn’t been selling that well on Etsy anyway, and Etsy had just changed its policies and had kicked me off their site. Why? Because… Continue reading Beware of Craigslist?

Obsolete Things from the Past

(re-run) When you reach a certain age, you realize that some of the things from your past are so obsolete that you haven’t thought about them in decades. Here is a list. Feel free to add to it: Candy cigarettes The Crayola crayon color called flesh Suntan pantyhose Playing cowboys and Indians Toy guns that… Continue reading Obsolete Things from the Past

Bringing a Friend on a First Date

(re-run) Frankie put an ad in the singles’ section of her town newspaper.  Burt answered the ad.  They talked on the phone several times, once for with three hours.  He told Frankie that he made plastic limbs as movie props. They were both in their late 20’s.  When Burt told her he lived with his… Continue reading Bringing a Friend on a First Date

Interfacing with Nature

(re-run) I live in a town that backs up to a gorgeous mountain in the middle of an otherwise-flat part of the San Francisco Bay Area. Bicyclists come from all over to climb Mt. Diablo and then get their joy ride on the way down the winding road. The hiking here is phenomenal, and the… Continue reading Interfacing with Nature

Bad Things that Come in Small Packages

(re-run) They met online on okcupid. The horizontal happened fast. Things were going well, so after six months, Barry gave up his ugly apartment and bought a condo. She moved in right away. Then he started to notice her temper: 1. If the house wasn’t perfectly clean at all times. 2. If his son’s dog… Continue reading Bad Things that Come in Small Packages

The Gun at Grandma’s House

The thing was cold, black, and heavy. Even though I was just a kid, maybe nine or ten, I knew a gun when I saw it. I’d been jumping on Grandma Nellie’s bed. The pillow had fallen on the floor. The gun was under the pillow. I put everything back the way I found it… Continue reading The Gun at Grandma’s House

Buffalo Bill Meets Annie Oakley

(re-run) Aaron met Katie on Plenty of Fish. She didn’t message him back for months. For their first date, he took her duck hunting. She brought her own gun. He brought a boat and the friend who owned it. The trio didn’t’ talk much because they had to be quiet to get a duck. It… Continue reading Buffalo Bill Meets Annie Oakley