(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
Category: relationships
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 Tree Whisperer
(re-run) I walk my neighborhood once or twice most days while walking Dog A and Dog B (I can’t walk them together since the newest little weirdo is nuts). Because I am a tree hugger and have planted more than sixty trees at my various houses over the years, I will free a distressed tree… Continue reading The Tree Whisperer
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
The Red-tailed Hawk and the Toddler Fence
(re-run) I’m a bird lover. I feed the song birds and the finches. I have an ongoing water supply in the form of a fountain in my back yard. I’ve planted native plants for the hummingbirds. When I hike, I am thrilled to find a hawk feather to add to my hat. Twenty-odd years ago,… Continue reading The Red-tailed Hawk and the Toddler Fence
Skipping Work for Woodstock, 1969
(re-run) In 1969 Max Yasgur’s pig farm in upstate New York sounded like the place to be for three days and three nights. Frank had been delivering the Woodstock tickets for weeks on Long Island at his job as a summer letter carrier for the U.S. Post Office. He and the other summer carriers knew… Continue reading Skipping Work for Woodstock, 1969
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
Car Shows, Men, and Elvis
(re-run) It’s funny how memories of one thing lead to memories of other things happening in the same time period. Like the Twin Towers falling, or JFK getting assassinated. Or Elvis dying. Today is the anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death (August 16th). Forty-five years ago, I was stepping off an airplane from Spain (by way… Continue reading Car Shows, Men, and Elvis
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 