Manners Yesterday on the San Juan Creek Trail bike path coming back from Doheny, I came up behind an elderly woman in a dress ambling along the concrete river bed. From the back, she was a dead ringer for my late grandma Josephine. Same frame, same manner—and most striking was that beautiful silver bun … Read more
Difference Makers for Little Details I’ve always assumed the family was seated all together on the pew, in that Wednesday night church service in San Fernando Valley, California. When the minister said there was a local family in need, and asked if anyone could take “the baby” home (18- month-old me), I thought my … Read more
Has God Faded? Far from the crowds and on a dirt path along the ocean, I was riding just south of the San Clemente pier yesterday when I saw “Save 2020.” You’re telling me, I thought, 2020 is a mess. (Just when I thought it couldn’t get much worse, my dad—on his 91st … Read more
Meeting My Muse I was so excited, I forgot about my mask. This is Vijay. Ever since I wrote about him in one of my stories, I’ve hoped to cross paths with him so that I could say hello. Today, as I was finishing up my ride and not far from home, I … Read more
My grandson knows that, recently, he couldn’t go outside for ten days or so because of the toxic air quality from the horrendous wildfires. He looked up into the sky so high and said it was “Sooooo smoky.” The sky is better now, thank God. He doesn’t know what else is in … Read more
I’m not liking people very much lately. It’s not all people, but a healthy chunk. And those in that chunk who had already bugged me before “lately”? They really bug me a lot right now. I blame it mostly on the train wreck that has been 2020. There are just so many topics … Read more
This morning, I gave my mom a test drive with this scalp massager (pictured). My dad was two feet away sans hearing aid, watching the news with the volume cranked, which rendered him oblivious to the happy groans from mom. So, from behind and without warning, I applied this magic wand to his scalp. … Read more
I woke up this morning to the sound of my own laughter. That hasn’t happened in a while. My dreams lately have been reflections of our troubled world and they don’t awaken me with a smile, it’s more often with a fright. Today was different. It took maybe two minutes to go downstairs and get … Read more
Today in the Costco parking lot, I experienced parking space road rage. If you saw the 1991 film, “Fried Green Tomatoes,” you might remember the Kathy Bates kerfuffle in the parking lot. I still have no idea why the woman went off on me today. None of it made any sense. In the moment, I … Read more
“When you’re feeling kicked to the curb, look for the grace.” That’s what my head said when I passed over these golden petals in the gutter. When we’re at our lowest, this is exactly what grace can look like. A few moments after passing over the flowers, from the Audible book on my iPhone, I … Read more