We celebrated the last big event of the season. On July 7, our grandson Zeke and his fiancé, Lexi, were married in an outdoor ceremony. Behind them was a chapparal-covered hill. A manicured park surrounded the couple and their guests. The ceremony seemed almost ethereal—most likely because I have seldom seen two people more in […]
Read MoreNot to mention plays, dinners, parties, lunches out, the grands’ games, and annual doctors’ appointments. (How did that happen?) The June calendar is so jammed that I’m exhausted just looking at it! I’ve even started thinking, One event at a time. Sure, there are blocks of time here and there, but the black ink is beginning […]
Read MoreIt is hard to believe that our two little flat-faced tiny puppies are now two years old. Experts say that small dogs are mature at around age two. Notice the vagueness in that statement. I’m happy to say that Sadie and Teddy may be physically mature, but they still have some endearing traits of adolescence—and […]
Read MoreThe calendar says that March 21 is the first day of spring, and while that’s a week away from the time I’m writing this, there are other signs that spring is here. One of the first signs of spring for me is the biannual ritual of changing the clocks. While I love the longer daylight, […]
Read MoreToday is just about as perfect a day as you can get. At 77F degrees, it is a warm day. A gentle sea breeze rustles glistening palm fronds. A few deciduous trees have bright-green leaves. Camellias, fruit trees, and bulbs are blooming. The apricot tree is covered with snowy blossoms that will turn into golf-ball-size […]
Read More“I wonder what will be happening in ten years?” my daughter-in-law, Marlene, mused. My head snapped around so fast I almost gave myself whiplash. But I said nothing. Chris, Marlene, Brooke, and Jaden were visiting us in the desert. Over the next few days, Marlene wistfully repeated this. Every time I heard her, I got […]
Read MoreToday, after our morning routine, which includes coffee, praying, catching up on world events, and taking care of the dogs, John said to me, “Do you think we could take the dogs on that hike in La Quinta?” Let me tell you about this hike. It covers a strip of desert between the La Quinta […]
Read MoreThe other day I went to the market. It was a fairly chilly day when I got in the car to head home, and I noticed a bee sitting on my sun-warmed windshield. Coincidentally (or possibly not), I had just been reading about bees. As insects, bees need warmth to keep moving. The bees we […]
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 More
Kathleen Chamberlin 