In a few days, we will open up a figurative calendar that seems to be a blank slate where anything is possible. Being somewhat of an optimist, I’m looking for good things: for happy times, for good health, for milestones reached, for spiritual peace, and for Teddy to finally stop seeing guests as giant hairy […]
Read MoreIt is a typical California December sunset. Branches of deciduous trees and a few palms are silhouetted against the dark shadow of the mountains and a sky that has a slash of deep coral fading into peach, pale yellow, and the purest blue blending into the blue-black cap of the night sky. Tonight, the moon […]
Read MoreSeven weeks ago, I had thumb-joint replacement surgery. I knew it would include a three-month rehab period at the start. What I didn’t know was that Teddy and Sadie would be all in as caretakers. When I arrived home from the surgery, the pups greeted me exuberantly but seemed to know that a lot of […]
Read MoreI was just sent a 55-year-old photo of John’s sister Ginny and her husband, Bill. The black-and-white photo shows a smiling movie-star-handsome young couple. Looking at this photo put me in a nostalgic mood, and I became acutely aware of the passage of time. Outside, these feelings seemed mirrored in the midfall landscape. Deciduous trees […]
Read MoreI’m looking out at the small valley where we live on the central California coast. Ordinarily I would gaze straight out at the parched mountains of the Santa Monica National Park, but today the first significant rain in ten months clouds the vista. My eyes are drawn to the neighborhood trees swaying in the wind […]
Read MoreDear Readers, I am just back from a very refreshing vacation, and I have lots of notes for future blogs. Let me just say nature was displayed in all its glory, and there was some danger, incredible food, and lots of relaxation. We arrived home just in time to celebrate my 33rd birthday—that’s my story, […]
Read MoreEarly today I was walking down the upstairs hallway when I realized I had put my underpants on backward. To those who have never done this, it is a singularly awkward feeling—but not as bad as putting two legs in a hole designed for one leg. However, that’s a non-starter in every sense of the […]
Read MoreToday I was going to write about a touch of fall in the air. On my early morning walk with Teddy, it was sweater-weather cool. I noticed some of the neighborhood trees were turning from green to gold and red. A light wind swept over us, and a tree dropped several leaves across our path. […]
Read MoreI was at a women’s breakfast a few weeks ago, and the organizer used this question for an icebreaker: “Over the past 18 months, what is one thing you are grateful for?” She waited a few minutes, and then one by one, each person took a few minutes to share their thoughts. Since I was […]
Read MoreI was walking Teddy today when I heard a familiar sound: the local grade school’s bell echoed off the mountain and informed the whole valley that school was back in session. We haven’t heard those bells in a very long time, and I have to say it made me smile. It just seemed so normal. […]
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Kathleen Chamberlin 