Actually I never realized the ugly balls hanging off of the dead trees driving west were mistletoe balls. Walking through the desert, the mesquite was succumbing to clumps of mistletoe. All I ever knew of mistletoe was the tiny twig of greenery hanging from a light fixture or the center of the door frame at…
Category: Family and Friends
Friendship While Quarantined
These months have passed quite slowly. For the longest time, I kept thinking I had stepped into another plane of the universe, as in the movie Contact. Perhaps if I looked closely enough I could find the wormhole to return to pre-March 14, 2020. What didn’t happened was actually a life-changing happening. The quarantine extended…
COVID – 19 Vocabulary #2
In an effort to keep up with the many new phrases and their uses during the pandemic, today’s words include data-driven, flatten the curve, and in an abundance of caution. Data-driven: As an educator, since No Child Left Behind was enacted under the Bush Administration, data-driven as come to mean using the results of standardized…
“Black” and other related races
What goes around, comes around. I have finally lived long enough for the term “Black” to become acceptable again. When I grew up in the late 50s, the term “colored” was used and, at the time not considered offensive. Then, based on the very important civil rights’ changes which took place in the 60s, the…
Eating or Exercising
With each day that elapses, growing bored with the homebound menu is a significant risk. My husband and I are both outstanding cooks, using a theme approach for each night of the week but varying the menu within, including Marinara Monday, Taco Tuesday, Wegetable Wednesday, Thirsty Thursday, Pizza Friday, Seafood Saturday, and Special Sunday. Differentiating…
Death of a Child, No Matter the Age
My son-in-law, Simon, disappeared on August 9. While he and my daughter were divorced, he was the father of our very first grandchild and he remained always in our thoughts, if not in our lives that frequently. It has been an exasperating and frightening time as we all grappled with the why of his disappearance. …
King Lear’s Message: Aging and Children
Raising children, taking care of aging parents, continuing professional education, working in high-level administration of an agency…all have given way to retirement and relocation. Living at the beach has provided beautiful sunrises and sunsets best enjoyed with strong drink. My three children are successful professionals and I have two wonderful grandchildren, one on each coast.…
My Son, The Ironman
Several years ago, my cell phone was ringing and as I glanced at the screen, I saw my son calling. He lived on the West Coast. West Coast calls are an amusing mix of adjusting to the time change and discrepant activities. It was mid-afternoon, mid-week. Normally not a usual time for a casual call from him…As…
A Box of Photos
Sorting and reorganizing life has become a tireless goal filled with another box of souvenirs, envelope of pictures, or notes stuffed in folders. Maybe it is approaching a milestone birthday or maybe clutter in the back closet is finally too bothersome to move around and tidy up. The other day, wandering through piles of pictures…
Organic —The way to go!
apple.news/A5pzFlwTETka0llxPoBJI8g Visiting my son and his family in California I was aghast at the cost of shopping only at Whole Foods and the speciality fish store in Santa Monica. It is not that I am a complete bumpkin about food and purchasing healthier options. I was not convinced that EVERYTHING needed to be organic, fresh,…
Life Gets Better 