Awake at 1:30 in the morning because of storms. Crept into another room to watch a Marco Polo (recorded video chat) from my Dad. Earlier, we had been discussing a particularly hard-to-open bottle of Pepsi he had been wrestling with. He was blaming old age, but laughing at himself. I responded before heading to bed, telling him about a case of water we had at … Continue reading En-lightning and Thunder
I write constantly. But sometimes, the words never make it from my head to the laptop keys. It’s been like that for the last few months. It is 4 am and I wake up from another dream. Not a nightmare exactly, but a continuation of a situation that is not in my control. I grab the cats and move to another room, trying to shake … Continue reading 4 am
So I took a break from stress today and decided to look for a long-forgotten memory. I pulled an old metal box hand-marked “Recipes” off the top shelf in my pantry, and began to work my way through them. As I pulled out recipe after recipe, I got lost in the notes… memories of family-meals-past, handwritten by my paternal grandparents “Missy” and“Sto”. I can still … Continue reading Flour, Sugar, Love and Memories
I spent three years of my childhood in Great Falls, Montana. Prior to that, I had lived mostly in Texas and California. So for me, snow was a treat! When we lived in California, my Dad bundled us up and drove into the mountains for the day just so we could see snow. He made sure we had boots and mittens and a sled, and … Continue reading Let It Snow!
Once there was a girl who woke up and smiled. And in that smile lived her heart. And she handed that heart to him as he kissed her goodbye and headed to work. Once there was a boy who kept her heart in his pocket as he drove through the rain. It was cold, but he didn’t notice because her heart kept him warm. And … Continue reading Once Upon A Smile
As the pandemic progresses, and the reality of no traveling sets in, I find myself using up the travel-size products that I’ve kept neatly in my “to go” bag for all of my cross-country adventures. Might as well, right? I mean, let’s save some money on shampoo and conditioner, etc. One of the products I found in my bag was an unopened package of Cucumber-Sage-scented … Continue reading Cucumber Melon-choly
I think about you in the quiet of the evening. After the excitement of the day has worn off. When I have thought about everything and everyone else. I feel like I’m under water in the deep end of the pool, somewhere between 3rd and 6th grade. I’m sitting on the bottom (because I can) and a friend has tossed something in from the side. … Continue reading Mermaid
I want to buy an overnight train ticket to somewhere. I will pack boxes of shoes with names like Carnelian and Sapphire and Rose. My hair will be Marilyn blonde, and I will pull it into one of those French Twists I’ve never been able to do. And I will paint my lips in that same “never been able to do” way. I will wear … Continue reading Lost On Sunrise
It is 2:45 pm on July 2nd. I have 90 minutes left to write a memory about my friend Kim, and still make it to the FedEx box before the last pick-up of the day. I could have mailed it. But I waited too long. So now it’s down to the wire. This has to be finished in time to make it to North Dakota … Continue reading Wait…
I sat on the living room floor, hugging the neck of our beloved Chocolate Lab while the vet waited patiently in the kitchen. Moments later, I was nuzzling her soft brown head as she took her last breath. Anyone who has lost a pet knows the heartbreak that comes next. For me, what came next was a spider. I spied her the morning after saying … Continue reading Along Came A Spider
