Thanks to Alysa for taking over the task of the Fiction entries each week.  It has been changed from Friday to Wednesday.  I chose the  prompt of taking a "first line" (in italics) from a book  and going from there.

I will link it to the new page as soon as… Read full post »

Larry could talk to anyone. He was someone who could meet people on their own terms.  He could discuss street drugs at a base level, or chemical composition in academic terminology. The night I met him, he was making his way down the hall,  chatting with other patients, stopping when/… Read full post »

My Mother's only sister, Eleanor, with one of her sons, my cousin Jim. Taken about 2007.

My only living aunt on my father's side..Rita. Married to my Uncle Tom. Picture taken on her 80th  birthday 2006

My Mother'… Read full post »

1.My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE . 
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside.. I just finished cleaning." 

2. My mother taught me RELIGION.  
"You better pray that will come out of the carpet." 

3.  My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL… Read full post »

 .Fiction Friday..Rita's open call.

What Are The Odds?

 I should have my head examined.  What was I thinking, letting them drop me off here and leave?

Dee looked at the mess on the ground in front of her.  It had been four hours since her friends had deposited her and a/… Read full post »

As noted in a previous blog, I am getting ready to go on a short local weekend camping trip.  Part of what that entails is cooling off the refrigerator and turning on the freezer so that I can transfer cold and frozen food out to the trailer. The refrigerator runs… Read full post »

Here in California Spring is just making up its mind what it wants to be.  Today it is sunny..but windy and cold. This afternoon later, it will heat up, but the night will be cold again. This is when I get the wanderlust.  I want to be gone. I want… Read full post »

Yesterday I posted a message on hope. On choosing hope. I wasn't feeling all that hopeful when I posted it. Choosing something comes first--then you have to go out and live it.

I had agreed to go to a movie with a friend yesterday, and we chose something that… Read full post »

I wasn't planning to publish anything today. Even my "funnies" haven't seemed funny  to me lately. I find myself struggling once again to have  energy to get anything at all accomplished. I should stop listening to the news. I feel like I am watching my country … Read full post »

In answer to Rita's  fiction Friday open call, choosing option B..a letter of apology.

Words Never Spoken

Becca eyed the letter on the counter. It stared back at her, challenging.

 What on earth could Alexa have written that was that thick? Why would she write at all? Becca took another sip… Read full post »

Without going into the yawn inducing details –at least in this writing- I want to address something that has been on my mind—and in everyone’s face—for a while now.  I don’t remember when it became legal or ethical for pharmaceutical companies to begin advert/… Read full post »

There are some things none of us ever forget...where we were when President Kennedy was shot, personal things like weddings, births, and special occasions. There is one frozen moment in time that I will never forget. I shove it to the back of my brain whenever it surfaces, but it… Read full post »

MURPHY’S OTHER 15 LAWS

1. Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

2. A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.

3. He, who laughs last, thinks slowest.

4. A day… Read full post »

Open Call for Rita's Fiction Friday VII.  I chose option B.

Lisa was juggling today. Rather than apples or tennis balls in the air, however, Lisa was attempting to keep some or all of her commitments for today from crashing to the ground.

She watched as the moving… Read full post »

I took my camera for another walk yesterday.  It was so beautiful, a little windy, but  the middle of the week on a sunny day in California should not be wasted.   A friend joined us..me and my camera..and we agreed to visit the Santa Monica Pier and see the renovations.&nb… Read full post »

I've SHRUNK!! Almost 2 inches!! I used to be just short of  5'6". It's what I put on every form, it's what's on my driver's license. And now--it's a lie!!!

And apparently, it's official, since it was recorded as part of my hospital record!!

Those of us who work in health… Read full post »

In a followup to a previous blog on my post retirement volunteer project, I  had promised to answer some  questions. My “project” is Drea, a female   black Labrador retriever. I began raising her with the intent of turning her over for formal training as a guide dog fo/… Read full post »

 Saved by pop culture open call

For all of my newly gained self confidence in high school, real  life still presented challenges I was not equipped to deal with.  Sharpening a few pencils really didn’t begin to compare with  navigating through the loss of “the love of/… Read full post »

Option B. Rita's Friday Fiction Open Call.  

Sitting on The Wall

Her pleading voice still haunted his memories. “Please, Jackie, please!! Take me home.  Someone can live with me, someone can take care of me there. Please, Jackie!!”

No, mom, it’s too late. The house i… Read full post »

Since I am trying to make my blogs “count,” I want to dedicate one to something I genuinely put my love, time, and effort into. 

I “retired” in 2006, fully intending to be able to continue to work at least half time. That didn’t work out, and that is… Read full post »

The term “coming of age” usually refers to something that happens in extreme youth that tips, nudges, or shoves one over the edge of childhood immaturity into the dawn of adulthood.  It is meant to be a recognizable, sharply defined event, unmistakable in its message, and not to be r/… Read full post »

 Keep in mind..this was many years ago..

Wherever my father would drag us for his latest new job, he would say to me “don’t tell anyone you might be moving—they won’t want to be friends with you”.  He meant, I suppose, that they wouldn't care to invest t… Read full post »

 A tweak on  option #2 for Rita's Fiction Friday Open Call..

Beth exited the “T” at Brigham Circle and hurried up the steps to the front entrance of Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital.  She was not late, but Beth hated to cut things too close.&n… Read full post »

I’ve ratted on my mother a couple  of other times on here, but I don’t think she’d mind.  Her sense of humor sustained her through most things. That’s why I don’t think she’d mind if I tell this one on her.

The joke, when traveling with my mother, was tha… Read full post »