This has been one of those do-nothing days, just hanging out and recovering from a cooking marathon yesterday for our belated Thanksgiving. My nephew, Jim, and his family are here and we also had visits from Liz, Rachael and Luna. We watched television, ate left-overs and chatted. No work, no duties. Just pure relaxation. Luna…
Category: Flash essay
Pooped
A whirlwind of cooking and cleaning today in anticipation of our out-of-town guests. Tomorrow I have students from early until late so Ray will have to finish up on the holiday prep. Ray is already asleep; I almost am. This isn’t going to be 20 minutes. I think it’s fairly amazing I am on here…
The Homeless, Scholastic and Stanford
I have had a busy day. First, the Breakfast Club this morning, bright and early at 6. We had a big crowd of diners so we were busy preparing homemade bread pudding with fresh blueberries, scrambled eggs, corn beef hash, freshly sliced roasted potatoes, grilled onions and green peppers, and melon slices. The food we…
Thanksgiving Anticipation
I am getting ready for an onslaught of visitors. I am excited about this, so “onslaught,” with any negative connotation that might accompany that term, is perhaps not the right description. Whatever word best describes the arrival of happily anticipated guests is what I’m going for here. Every year at Thanksgiving, our family from Utah…
Urgent Care for Luna Today
Our little Luna made a trip with her mom and dad to Urgent Care today. She was very congested with a rattling chest. The doctor did a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia – which she does not have – but told Sarah and Gregorio to take her to the emergency room if she starts…
Ojai Today
We have spent the day in Ojai today, arriving early this morning to talk to a solar guy about what it would entail for us to put in a few panels so we could have electricity. We learned some encouraging information – government grants and low-interest loans for agricultural lands – and are going to…
Photos of My Beloved Brother, John
I recently came across my mother’s memory book of my brother, John. It contains family photos, several letters from John she received in the months prior to his death, along with condolence cards and letters after he died in 1990. He was 46 at that time. He had been diagnosed with AIDS less than 2…
In Memory of Dr. Jim Leatherwood on Veteran’s Day
My brother, Jim, rose to the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the U.S Navy, serving as a medical officer to the Marines. He was stationed at Camp Lejeune and Camp Pendleton after graduating from medical school. He loved the military and often said that if they had been more kindly to gay men, he would have been…
In Search of the Source for a Dylan Quote
I am listening to Bob Dylan. I have been trying to track down a quote that came from him: “Something large far off, up close ain’t never that big.” I’ve actually found the quote, but can’t find the song it is attached to. So, I decided to listen to some of his songs on Youtube…
Money Relief
Today is a good day. Ray and I have made some big financial decisions and changes that will affect our future. We have secured a private loan on the house that is for sale in Texas, which means that we are taking it off the market. Instead, we will keep it and lease it out….
20 Minutes a Day 