In These Times

As I was walking the levee trail, I met a rabbit who offered me a cigarette. The rabbit wore a necktie and a suit jacket with shoulder pads.  He had grayish white fur—in fact his entire body, his clothes, his cigarette case, even the sky behind him-were a matte gray like a black and white movie, … Continue reading In These Times

Sheltering-in-Place: final edition?

Hello, dear readers.  How are you?  I am fine.  Well, kinda fine.  I am emerging slowly, as many of us are, attending to things that have been put off too long—dental appointments, household repairs, long overdue purchases, wellness exams for my cats.  Stuff like that. I want to get out, but it’s scary too.  I’m fully vaccinated, my health risk is … Continue reading Sheltering-in-Place: final edition?

What I Miss Most

I wrote this a month ago with my Thursday night writing group, and I didn’t use too many of the prompts, though I did use these:  out to lunch, for whose eyes do I write today, shedding inhibitions, “A writer is not one who answers questions but who asks them.” What I miss most is going … Continue reading What I Miss Most

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

If you and your loved ones are safe and healthy this year, then you have reason to be thankful.  Please do all you can to stay that way! The safest thing to do this holiday season is to celebrate with your own household members, and greet the rest of your family and friends via phone call … Continue reading Happy Thanksgiving Week!

Sheltering, Part 4

We’ve all been “sheltering” now, to one degree or another, for seven and a half months.  Initially I was both alarmed and secretly pleased—because suddenly I could be my introvert self without apology.  My biggest fear was that the whole thing would end too soon—before I completed the half-finished novel I’d been sitting on for the past … Continue reading Sheltering, Part 4

Earthseed, a review

Goodreads had a Facebook post a week or so ago asking readers to “describe the book you’re currently reading in one word.”  I’m generally too verbose to succeed with such restrictions, but this time it was easy. The Earthseed Series by the late African American science fiction writer Octavia Butler is like nothing else out there—and … Continue reading Earthseed, a review

Time to Re-Open Schools?

This week when the Republican President and his entitled Secretary of Education demanded that public schools open full time/full service this fall, virus or no virus, OR they would lose federal funding, I became so upset that I turned off the computer, the TV, the radio.  That was the straw.  I couldn't stand to hear … Continue reading Time to Re-Open Schools?

Pray For Our Country

I had something else laid out and ready to go this week, but coming up on the Independence Day Holiday, I felt a need to say something more.    When friends ask how I am lately, I say cheerfully that I have my ups and downs.  But this past week, after news of the Russians … Continue reading Pray For Our Country

How Madelaine Survives Quarantine

Written with my Thursday night writing group (now meeting on Zoom!) with the prompts:  one red shoe and oh, dear. Madelaine wore one red shoe and one green shoe because it was Christmas and she was in a wild holiday mood.  She wondered, do cats see color?—because it was only the cats who would see … Continue reading How Madelaine Survives Quarantine

Continued Sheltering, part three

Greetings!  If you’re a regular reader, you know the past two weeks I’ve suggested some prayers that I’ve found helpful, and I continue to encourage everyone to write prayers and affirmations too.  It’s funny, because almost as soon as the first post went up, I began to feel kind of down.  And so I felt … Continue reading Continued Sheltering, part three