(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
Category: travel
A Scavenger’s Life
(re-run) I see value in things that others don’t see. It can be blessing and also a problem. That paper bag? Take it to my favorite thrift store. The plastic bag the newspaper comes in? A poop bag on a dog walk. A cracked dinner plate? A water-catch for a ceramic pot. So when the… Continue reading A Scavenger’s Life
Don’t Get a Sun Burn
(re-run) You think you know someone. You’ve sat across from your brother-in-law at countless holiday meals. You raised your kids together, although far enough away that you only saw them four or five times a year. You know George loves Monterey, but you didn’t know the whole story. You knew he’d been in the military,… Continue reading Don’t Get a Sun Burn
Flat Feet
(re-run) I turned on my laptop the other day, and the ever-changing screen showed a photo of waterfalls, big wide ones somewhere in Brazil. I’ve never been to Brazil, but I have been to Venezuela, where there are seven wide falls and a resort below them called Canaima. I was student-teaching with another Iowa Stater.… Continue reading Flat Feet
The Power of Vacation
(re-run, pre-pandemic) The week after Christmas is dead time for scheduled activities. Chorus rehearsals are cancelled. The city building where I exercise three times a week is closed. There’s a lot of extra time during the day. So . . . . . . for the first time in two and a half years, I… Continue reading The Power of Vacation
Romance Coast to Coast
(re-run) Nicky went back to Connecticut to see his mother.“You’ve got to meet this cute Italian girl working in my office,” a friend said.“I’m only here for a week,” Nicky said.“My wife is in night class with a cute Italian girl,” another friend said. “You two should meet.”“I’m only here for a week,” Nicky said,… Continue reading Romance Coast to Coast
He Wouldn’t Take Non for an Answer
(re-run) Harry was an American soldier who had survived D-Day. 10 months later, the war had just ended in Europe. He helped free the town of Reims, France, where she lived. She was so beautiful that when he met her on the street, he asked to/walked her/followed her home. She thanked him but wasn’t interested.… Continue reading He Wouldn’t Take Non for an Answer
Grizzly Bear!
In honor of the two college wrestlers who met a Grizzly bear in Wyoming last week and lived to tell the tale . . . (re-run) An Amazon robot punctured a can of Bear Mace, sending 80 employees to the hospital before Christmas. It reminded me of this true account as told to me at… Continue reading Grizzly Bear!
The Contractor and the Jet Setter
(re-run) It was Tom, the contractor’s, umpteenth date on Match.com. The woman he matched with was from the same affluent town, was the same height as he was, and was ready to meet him at Bridges, the hot spot downtown with the best happy hour. But when Ellen walked in, she had on three inch… Continue reading The Contractor and the Jet Setter
Almost Toast
(re-run) Marlene and her friend Beth came out to California from New Hampshire after college to work for Bank of America. They each made a new friend, and each new friend brought another friend to the party (plus one more) until they were a group of seven recent college graduates, living in the city of… Continue reading Almost Toast
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 