(re-run) If you think this post is going to be about how I scour the racks at Nordstrom’s for the best deals of the season, it’s not. If you think it’s about how I maximize double coupons at the grocery store, I don’t. What it is about is how I can find the deals for… Continue reading A Good Little Shopper
A Girl, A Creek, and an Hour to Spare
(re-run) When my worker woman showed up Monday morning after having been gone for a two-week long vacation, I had a long list of to–do’s for her. I answered the door and found her nine year old daughter standing next to her. I said hello and went over the list with Kelly. I left to… Continue reading A Girl, A Creek, and an Hour to Spare
The Why of Tearing Down the Statues
I have half an hour before my Zoom exercise class begins. I was vacuuming when I came up with some thoughts to jot down before I lose them. On a 4th of July Zoom call the other day, the conversation turned to the protests in the streets and the tearing down of statues across the… Continue reading The Why of Tearing Down the Statues
Rosie the Riveter Museum Lady
If you were 98 years old and still serving as a National park ranger in Richmond, CA, then you would be Betty Reid Soskin. She was born in 1921 and didn’t become a park ranger until she was 85 years old. Why does she do it? Her museum is the Rosie the Riveter /World War… Continue reading Rosie the Riveter Museum Lady
Doc and Lillian
When I was just out of college and teaching in a small town in Nebraska, I rented a refurbished farmhouse from the superintendent. His dad was Doc. Doc’s wife was Lillian. They became my surrogate Nebraska grandparents. Doc used to be a dentist, and one day he presented me with a mood ring. Remember those?… Continue reading Doc and Lillian
How to Relax for Bed
(re-run) I closed my online costume shop last summer. I donated 500 dresses to a charity for third world girls and sorted through my aprons, pulling out all the hostess ones, the sheer ones not for cooking. I had 150 of them. I gave them to my local thrift store, the one that knows vintage… Continue reading How to Relax for Bed
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, and she had been sneaking into the hotel pool for years. “Just carry the towel and act like you belong,” Linda said.… Continue reading Sneaking into the Pool
Pandemic Tuesday and the Escape Dog
It’s that bewitching hour, 6:00 p.m. I’ve done all my daily duties, the chorus Zoom meeting isn’t till 7:00, I am too tired to clean something, I’ve scrolled through Facebook enough, so now I will write a blog post. I started out my day by going to Costco. I go once a month and didn’t… Continue reading Pandemic Tuesday and the Escape Dog
Crocodile Rock
(re-run) Friday evening there was an Elton John tribute band in the plaza. Since Yellow Brick Road is one of my all-time favorite albums, I thought, why not? My youngest, visiting from Boston, had plans to see her friends in Berkeley. It had finally cooled off a bit, and the smoke from the wildfires wasn’t… Continue reading Crocodile Rock
The Rattlesnake at Scout Camp
(re-run) It’s rattlesnake season here in the West. Snakes are cold-blooded and love warm surfaces like rocks or sunny trails when they are cold, and dark and shady places when they are hot. At night they curl up in the strangest locales – in coiled-up garden hoses, under the edge of pool covers, and now… Continue reading The Rattlesnake at Scout Camp
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 