writing
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SPOTTED DICKS & FLICKS
Lately, I’ve been brushing up on all things British so asked a friend from Rugby to catch me up on the lingo over lunch. Towards the end, she asked, “Oh! Have you ever had a spotted dick?” That caught me off-guard. What was that? A you-know-what with spots? Some kind of fish? A polka dot dickey? Took… Read more
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HOW YOU LOOK IS NOT HOW YOU ARE SEEN
Last week, I was feeling particularly lovely and vibrant, so I took some selfies in the garden to share with my kids. However, when I put on my glasses to look at them, I was stunned. Surely that weathered face and wrinkles didn’t belong to me? I started to delete them, then stopped myself. Since… Read more
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YOU OLD PEOPLE!
A couple times a week, I go to the gym to lift some light weights. (Apparently, bearing my own weight is not enough.) I do 3 sets, 8 reps each, on 5 machines. Each set takes about 30 seconds which means 15 minutes total, because I don’t dally. I’m alone in this endeavor, however. The vast majority here… Read more
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CRY BABY, CRY!
I took this picture in my doctor’s waiting room because it made me sad. Even older people sit on their phones silently scrolling. We don’t talk to each other anymore. For someone who didn’t cry much as a kid, I’ve made up for it in adulthood. These days tears spill from my eyes, often over… Read more
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EN GARDE!
These medieval fencers are a regular sight at my local park. Watching them thrust and parry reminds me of lovers quarreling. But here’s the difference: fencers wear protective gear. Lovers have no such protection. When they go at each other, they are often defenseless. And just because men have 25% thicker skin than women does not make… Read more
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LOVE LETTER TO OUTRAGE
When I see injustice around me, my blood boils. A switch flips in my head and I go ballistic. Research says that we react most strongly to the things that personally affect us. Our immediate self-interest and personal relevance are the most powerful drivers of our emotional response. The premise is that since I was mistreated as… Read more
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PJs AND BIRTHDAYS
When the first freeze of winter hit, I pulled out my flannel PJs and found only one mismatched pair, which had a long-gone, elastic waistband. They were given to me almost 20 years ago. I did the math and realized that my next pair may well outlive me. So, I purchased these, so I’ll look… Read more
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“OPTING OUT IS NOT NEUTRAL. IT IS PERMISSION.”
–MITCH JACKSON, LAWYER, AUTHOR, SPEAKER Given the events this week, I was not going to post, but Jackson’s eloquent wisdom gnawed at me. By now, you’ve seen the videos of Renee Good, the young mother of three shot dead by ICE agent Jonathan Ross, as she attempted to leave a protest in Minneapolis. Only seconds… Read more
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YOU GO FIRST
Remember in school when the teacher asked a question and you shrank down in your seat hoping he’d call on someone else? No one wanted to go first. Years later, at my very first dance, I quickly realized that waiting for someone to ask me could take forever. Life was too short to just stand… Read more
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The Bark & The Bikini
I found hundreds of these tree bark striplings lying in the gutter, covered with mud. They had fallen from a Manzanita tree on a populated street in La Jolla. Countless people stepped on them as if they were garbage, not noticing them at all. But their paper-thin delicacy and colors captivated my eye. After rinsing… Read more
AGEFULLY AGING 