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

My First Taste of California

When I was in college, the spring of my sophomore year, I saw a poster for a summer job – “Earn $3000 in just three months.” Back in 1975, that was a lot of money. I went to the evening meeting on campus and found myself in a room with a dozen other “applicants.” After… Continue reading My First Taste of California

The People I Meet When Thrifting

(re-run) I have a deep need to thrift. I do it at least once a week, even on vacations. I’m not talking consignment stores where people bring in items, hoping to get some money back.  I’m talking about stores that take donations and sell things on the cheap because they got them for free. Last… Continue reading The People I Meet When Thrifting

Daisy’s Nervous Car Ride

Every two weeks I load up my dogs and head to Monterey County to check on and use my little beach house.  But a month had gone by since the last time, due to 9 rainstorms that wreaked havoc on Northern California. Last week, it left one of my highways underwater. I finally found a… Continue reading Daisy’s Nervous Car Ride

The Bucket List

(re-run from ?) I’d never heard the expression “bucket list” until the movie of the same name came out in 2007 with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson.  Since then I’ve heard people, everyone from Medicare seniors to elementary-aged kids, name things on their bucket list. I had a bucket list moment last night, although I… Continue reading The Bucket List

Holiday Heartache

(re-run from 2019) As I sit here on a Sunday afternoon, I have fluffy white “Iowa” clouds (cumulus) out the windows across the back of my house. I used to look into a wall, but that baby is gone, and now I have nature. This month has been so full already, three chorus concerts with… Continue reading Holiday Heartache

Always Wear Clean Underwear

I was getting ready to walk the dog this morning when I noticed that the toilet bowl needed a swish. Doing it later isn’t a thing with me. What If I get hit by a bus and people see my dirty toilet? Swish, swish. My youngest is coming home for Thanksgiving? Dust the cobwebs, vacuum… Continue reading Always Wear Clean Underwear

Antique Dolls Get a Bad Rap

(re-run) Fifteen years ago, my second cousin died an untimely death. She left me all of her dolls that had passed down on two sides of the family until they ended with her. She had no children, no one to pass the dolls to. I’ve been dragging around my childhood dolls for half a century.… Continue reading Antique Dolls Get a Bad Rap