When I was young, the one black boy in my elementary school was my classmate. His name was Teddy. This was white-white-white Iowa in the 60’s. 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 at recess.”… Continue reading The Racist and the Ficus Tree
Category: relationships
Mr. No Class
They met online through a singles website (not the swiping one). Tom lived and worked in Napa. Carin lived less than an hour away in the San Francisco East Bay on a horse ranchette with her seven horses. She ran a small upscale hair salon. After much texting and talking, they got together for dinner… Continue reading Mr. No Class
Daydreaming on a Dog Walk
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 safe… Continue reading Daydreaming on a Dog Walk
The Thrift Store Angel
I pulled into the donation line and saw the racks and racks of bagged clothing and rolling containers of all the other stuff. It had been a good day for donations at Saver’s Thrift store. When it was my turn, I got out of the car to open up the back of my SUV. “Wow!”… Continue reading The Thrift Store Angel
My Fake-Coffee Half Hour
It’s funny how a person’s perception of what is good changes with the circumstances. I used to look forward to my can of Diet Coke every day until I reached my mid-forties. Then the stuff was too hard on my stomach, and I gave it up. I used to look forward to my cup of… Continue reading My Fake-Coffee Half Hour
Must Love Dogs
John had a date with a woman named Sally. She had just rescued a dog and named it Muffin. John wanted to go skim boarding at the beach, and he asked Sally to come with him. Of course she had to bring Muffin, her Golden Retriever. When they got to San Gregorio beach a park… Continue reading Must Love Dogs
A Disco Era Story
The band room was a freezer. “Vamos a sentarnos en el pasillo, clase.” “What?” “We’ll sit in the hallway today.” It was zero degrees outside. The school district wanted a Spanish class but had no classroom for me. I’d complained a zillion times – when the band teacher held private tuba lessons in his office,… Continue reading A Disco Era Story
Date with a Widower
They found each other on Match. They had both lost their spouses. Don said he was looking for a good Catholic widow. He was involved with the arch diocese in Oakland. Sue was a recovering Catholic but thought maybe he was a solid guy. She agreed to meet him for coffee. He was good-looking and… Continue reading Date with a Widower
A Great Dane Story
When I was almost thirteen, I hung out at my neighbor Bonnie’s house, just one block away from mine, but it was different world. Both her parents worked full time, so we teens could hang there with no parental supervision. We were supervised, though, by the family’s Great Danes. I remember three dogs, but there… Continue reading A Great Dane Story
Alameda Point, at Last
A few towns from mine, there is a monthly gathering of vendors selling items that are twenty years old or older. It’s called the Alameda Point Antique Fair. I had never been until today. The irony is that I had an antique shop for six and a half years. And my customers would sing the… Continue reading Alameda Point, at Last
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 