I spent more time in and out of hospitals this past year than I have in decades — a week as the patient and then many months as a sister of the patient. My personal adventures were a little scary but mostly diagnostic, without much pain involved and lots of welcome sleep. The diagnosis was […]
If you know me — have read my work, are a friend, hang out on social media, etc. — you’ll know that for the last 14 years I’ve been swimming in Scotts Flat Lake, a reservoir near my town in Northern California. At first, when a friend brought me to the lake, I swam every […]
Before the Pandemic, I was slated to do a poetry reading in Ukiah, CA, but the virus put paid to that idea. Four years later, they invited me again, and I said yes. I hadn’t done any out-of-town readings since the world opened up, and felt as though I needed to practice being in public […]
Sometimes I envy my sister Sarah’s vacations, but this year when I discovered she was going to Fiji for Christmas, I did not: I was only delighted. I wanted to borrow her apartment. You can see this wonderful place in a previous blog post here. My friend Susanna was having a birthday, and both of […]
I’ve always had a theory that a town or city’s resident doesn’t frequent the tourist attractions of that town or city unless guests come for a visit. This was proved once again when my friend of 40 years, Ellen K., came to see me over Labor Day Weekend and mentioned that she loved little, out-of-the-way […]
As a person with no immediate family, my Christmas traditions vary widely. Sometimes I snuggle up to other people’s children, grandchildren, pets, and turkey dinners — sometimes I wander around by myself, or stay home in front of the fire and read a good book. Usually I have figured out what I’ll be doing by […]
I can’t leave you on the road to Chinle for too long, you’ll get overheated! Sandy and I drove into Thunderbird Lodge in the late afternoon (this gorgeous Navajo-run lodge is inside the grounds of the national monument), and took everyone’s advice to go look at Canyon de Chelly at sunset from the south rim. […]
It’s been a long long long long long long time since I took a real vacation. One of those go-somewhere-else jaunts that isn’t to see family (that’s called a visit, not a vacation), lasts more than three days, and you have to save up the money beforehand. Well, not have to, but it’s great if […]
It used to be that one would call the phone number or look at Ananda Village‘s website to find out when the gardens were opening to the public every spring. Now we just wait for the Facebook posts to appear, and then we know it’s time. The gardeners at this retreat center/religious community plant 900 […]
Yesterday, I was feeling pretty punk. There are many good reasons, none of which I will bore you with here. Ordinary stuff that on other days wouldn’t have made me think twice had gathered together and weighed me down. Luckily I had an appointment with my life coach, Nancy. She said to me the same […]