We Knew This Day Would Come

  Her paw print arrived today. Bastards. Just about the time I could get through three hours at a time without crying; just about the time I no longer bowed in reverence to the sacred places where she loved to sleep; just about the time I’d laughed really hard in days,  I opened the card from the vet who put my dog down. There was Libby’s paw print. Punch to the gut. Damn doctor. She didn’t even warn me. A sudden gasp caught in my throat and then came the heaving … [Read more...]

Simply Simon

We called him Jack, Jack the party crasher. As things would turn out, that wasn’t really his name, but it seemed to fit. Jack, sauntering in to a Christmas party in full swing and hopping up on my couch, the good couch at that. Earlier in the day, as is my habit with entertaining, I was attempting to cram into three hours what most, better organized hostesses would spread out over a couple of days. I was a one-woman wrecking ball: cheesecake, meatballs, spicy candied … [Read more...]

Baseline

Saturday morning, looking for shorts to wear to the high school track where I’ve been rehabbing, my hip, not the track, I come across the tennis skirt I bought last July at the Sports Authority Final Clearance Sale. The tag is still on it. Smiling, I get it out of the closet and step into its crisp, white, pleated perfection, pulling it up over my spider-veined legs with a darling new tattoo at the top—a five inch scar on my right butt cheek. Skirt is cheeky, tad bit … [Read more...]

Hecho En Mexico, Well, Not So Much

The comedy of errors continues in my path to higher education. Two years ago, almost to the day—I graduated after a 42-year summer break, from the University of New Mexico with my B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication. Seemed fitting, since I’d been a journalist for lo these many years, with a few political press gigs, corporate communications and a truck load of video production dumped in, just for good measure, and, well, better pay. I was super proud. I felt … [Read more...]

When’s the last time you felt really good about yourself?

Pat the body. I never eat butter without thinking of my friend Annette. She’s half French and wholly sexy. Brunette, like Bridget Bardot with brown hair, Annette is petite and voluptuous, the possessor of a lacy voice and impeccable diction. She has a wicked laugh, great posture, and an aura of understated class and savoir faire.Men drop their forks in restaurants when she walks by, prompting kicks under the table from unattended dinner dates. Believe me, Annette is the … [Read more...]

Seeking Clarity, Maybe Even Peace

**** Hello All, I have been away. Lots of life to attend to. I am beginning to make my way back to doing what I really love --writing and corresponding with you. There's a partial explanation to my absence contained in this blog post. I have also been busy working on a novel (among other creative projects....) I've missed so much my interaction with you, though. I would just like to say thanks for caring, paying attention, reading, sending prayers and love for our … [Read more...]

Good Will Driving, Sometimes Flying

The woman in the silver Buick in the turn lane held a tight grip on the wheel. She looked straight ahead, seemed pensive. I’d been feeling that way too, lately, that fear thing. It had been messing with me. So I messed with the woman. I rolled forward a few feet, sending intense brainwaves like an auger to her temple—look over here, lady. Just look over here. By now, I was boring a hole through the side of her face, as Libby and Lou sat looking like the two old men in … [Read more...]

Dude, Where’s My Graduation Pic?

Flying back from New Mexico last Sunday relishing my newfound recognition of slip faulting, the product of my recently completed Geology 111 class, which constituted the “Final Four” credits that had been standing between me and my Bachelor’s Degree for lo these many decades, I was one proud slamma-mamma-jamma (not so much a summa-cumma-Lawdy) college graduate. Yep, 42 years after an academically challenged 18-year-old first crossed the threshold of an English 101 class … [Read more...]

If He Could Talk to You Today

A year ago today, my little brother J.R. passed away. It was a long, sad, heart wrenching descent into the grips of alcoholism. I know, upbeat topic for today, right? But this week, this week alone, I have had two people who I love very much tell me about their family's heartaches because of addiction. One friend told me her son is in trouble with cocaine. He is a father, with three kids. Another friend was recounting the sadness and horror of losing her nephew to a … [Read more...]

My hair smells like salad dressing…and other downsides to multi-tasking.

Back to reality blew in with a biting, cold vengeance this week, didn’t it? On Monday morning, 10-degrees, I’m stuck in traffic, and can’t figure out why the dumb asses won’t “Close the gap! Close the gap! Move up, you numb nuts!” I’m yelling in my car. I hate it when people won’t move along. I hate it when I become a lunatic. Tuesday morning, at the crack of frigid, I drive to the airport. Nobody “hops” on a plane anymore. I eventually board, take my seat next to … [Read more...]