Memories Light the Corners of my Mind

(re-run) I used to be good at remembering people’s names and remembering to use coupons before they expired. Now I am lucky if I can find the coupon when I am at the store.   Today, at CVS, I checked out and was given a long receipt with $6.00 of extra bucks on it. My… Continue reading Memories Light the Corners of my Mind

My Jimmy Carter Story

I was a junior in college when Jimmy Carter was elected president.  I had a late class that Tuesday, and when I got back to the sorority house where I lived, my sorority sisters had made a dummy of Jimmy Carter and had hung him in effigy – those girls were daughters of Republicans. It… Continue reading My Jimmy Carter Story

More Machu Picchu

(part two) Christy and I finished our breakfast at the hotel up at the top and looked into the fog. The buses wouldn’t start arriving until noon. “Let’s hike up the big mountain,” she said. “Okay,” I said. My lost and found tennis shoes were too small, but I had cut out the toes so… Continue reading More Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu Before It Was a Thing

(re-run) It was 1977. I was finishing up ten weeks of student teaching in an American oil school in Caracas, Venezuela. My roommate, Christy, wanted to travel for two weeks before we went home to the states. She wanted to visit Machu Picchu in Peru. I’d never heard of it. “It’s the lost city of… Continue reading Machu Picchu Before It Was a Thing

Why Do We Hide Mental Issues in America?

(re-run) It has come to my attention that if a person tells you that he has Asperger’s* and you tell another person that the guy has Asperger’s, that is a bad thing. We all know that If the guy had a broken leg or a bad heart, and you tell others of those things, it’s… Continue reading Why Do We Hide Mental Issues in America?

New Guy in Town

(re-run from 2022) I fell in love when he played the cowboy thief in Thelma and Louise. He’s still a heart throb, only eight years younger than I am.  And now he’s bought a mansion in a town down the road from my little beach house.  I read it in Carmel magazine this week. His… Continue reading New Guy in Town

Daisy Rescue Dog, Let the Fur Fly # 6

Two steps forward, one step back. Things seem fine, and then the new Jack Russell rescue dog named Daisy attacks the raised-from-a-puppy lab/border-collie/pit bull mix named Pepper. What the fluff? What happened? Things were going so well. The advantage of having a white dog is that you can see every scratch and bite on it.… Continue reading Daisy Rescue Dog, Let the Fur Fly # 6

Daisy Rescue Dog One Year

(Re-run from 2018) Tomorrow will be Daisy’s adopt-a-versary. That’s right, the day after Christmas!  I had looked at free dogs at the local SPCA, but all that was left were big dogs: pit bulls, overweight standard Dachshunds, and other large mixed breeds. I gave up on the “free dog” idea and came home to look… Continue reading Daisy Rescue Dog One Year

Sheltering in Place at the Beach

(re-run from 2020) I just got back from the grocery store. It’s 9:30 a.m.  I saw maybe a total of fifteen people, and that includes workers. I was the youngest shopper in there, and I’m two months away from Medicare.  Everyone had on masks. I wore my gloves and took them off only to open… Continue reading Sheltering in Place at the Beach