I am on the plane to Salt Lake City, which was delayed two hours. We have been in the air for about an hour and we are experiencing a bit of turbulence. Nothing terrible but enough for the flight attendant to say that we all need to be in our seats with our seat belts…

Here I sit in the den with Cordie nearby and Frankie already upstairs with Ray.  The house is quiet at 9:32 on a Monday evening.  I have had five hours of students today plus a run to the airport and back to pick up old friends from Wales who will be visiting LA and their…

I have just begun reading John Steinbeck’s Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters, a compilation of Steinbeck’s letters to his editor and friend, to whom he addressed a journal entry every day before writing his manuscript pages for his novel. East of Eden is one of the first books I read years ago…

A January 7th can not go by without me recognizing that this is my big brother George’s birthday.  George was born January 7, 1950 and died of cancer on May 4, 2004 at only 54. George was my first best friend, being only 3 years older than me, and he remained one of my closest…

Ray and I just returned from church this evening.  It is Epiphany, the day the wise men reached Jesus in the stable in Bethlehem after being sent by Herod so that he could “worship him.” They followed a star in the east “till it came and stood over where the young child was.”  They brought…

Grandbabies came over last night. That’s the reason I missed posting on my blog.  I was pacing upstairs in a dark room with baby Nico in my arms.  He fussed just a bit before falling asleep, but he likes to snuggle once in bed so sneaking down to grab my computer was not part of…

Good-bye, orange grove; hello, LA. Back in the heart of the city. Cars are whizzing by outside. Cordie and Frankie are barking at the occasional dog that is being walked out front. William, our cat, is snuggled in the laundry basket in the laundry room. I can see the goings-on of the occupants of the…

Tomorrow Ray and I are headed back to LA to rejoin the rest of the world after a week’s respite out here in Ojai. I can’t say I am super excited to leave this peaceful place, but I will be happy to see my writing students who begin returning tomorrow.  Today was a clean-up day…

Everyone has returned home and Ray and I are still here at the orange grove with the dogs. I have just taken a shower in our roofless showerhouse, which, with its heat-on-demand water heater, remains at the top of the list of best improvements for the orange grove second only to our freestanding kitchen, which…

Wishing you the best in the upcoming new year, my friends. Here’s to health, happiness, compassion, tolerance, prosperity and peace in all of our lives and all around the world.