Sneaking into the Pool

(re-run) While student teaching in Venezuela, we 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 (Tamanaco Internacional) and she had been sneaking into the hotel pool for years. “Just carry the towel and act like you belong,”… Continue reading Sneaking into the Pool

Love Again

(re-run) KT 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

Creative People Make Messes

(re-run) If you are an orderly person like Monk on the TV show of the same name, this column is not for you. You crave things in place, all the time. Otherwise, you are agitated. The other side of the coin is the person who is so busy creating that he/she doesn’t notice the mess.… Continue reading Creative People Make Messes

Rocky Mountain Low

(re-run) He was the good-looking cousin of my best friend. Tall, tan, and bearded, with a killer smile, he was gorgeous.  For me, it was love at first sight. Marcus had moved from Minnesota to Colorado to be near his sister. He asked if I wanted to come out and go backpacking with him. I… Continue reading Rocky Mountain Low

A Victoria’s Secret Box with Dinner

(re-run) Saundra met Duke online on Match.  They agreed to meet at Scott’s Seafood restaurant for dinner.  When she got there, he was already seated and waved her over.  As she approached the table she noticed a dozen lavender roses in a vase. She remembered that Duke had asked her favorite color. As she sat… Continue reading A Victoria’s Secret Box with Dinner

The Danger of Family Secrets

(re-run) To this day my mother says, “It was a different time. That’s what families did in those days.” She is talking about family secrets. Mine had a whole bunch of them. My dead Uncle David, with his farm painting on the living room wall of my grandparents’ house, was a mystery to me.  He’d… Continue reading The Danger of Family Secrets

The Weakest Link – my Low Back

(re-run) The good thing about the current Coronavirus Covid-19 lockdown is that I have a hundred projects to finish.  Suddenly I have nothing but time to do it all. Everything was going along swimmingly yesterday. I exercised. I painted (spray-painted picture frames), I picked up dog poop. I did a heavy load of laundry.  I… Continue reading The Weakest Link – my Low Back

Bricks, Ricks, & Cardboard

The college mixer was hosted by the men in Lorch House in Friley Hall, in the heart of the Iowa State campus. Tappan House, the top two floors of my dorm, Barton Hall, was invited. Yes, I am old. Yes, dorm floors are co-ed now. This was in the days of the dinosaurs. The usual… Continue reading Bricks, Ricks, & Cardboard

A Double Double

(re-run) They met online. Veronica liked his blue eyes, just like her late husband’s. He liked her lean frame and told her so. She enjoyed the morning email exchanges for a couple of weeks. He harassed her for eating at Chick-fil-A since the business had just come out as anti-gay. She was a Southern girl… Continue reading A Double Double