I went to church this morning – leading morning prayer at 7:30 and then attending low mass at 8 am. Ray came with me – always a treat – and we stayed afterwards to chat at coffee hour. Ray will go to the 8 o’clock mass because, as he says, “We get all that church…
Category: Los Angeles
Saturday Afternoon in LA
The dogs are barking outside. It is mid-afternoon on a Saturday and the sky is blue. A helicopter just flew by and I can now hear its engine fading as it heads off to the west. Bach’s Brandenburg concerto is playing and Ray is rattling dishes in the kitchen. My fifteen-year-old student, Cameron, is here…
A Call from a Sick Friend
Ray and I were sitting here playing a second game of Scrabble tonight when my cell phone rang. It was Ian, who is our friend and also our priest. It was already 7:45 and he is a notorious early-to-bedder. I was surprised to be getting a call. “Hello,” I said. “Len?” “Hey. What’s happening?” “I’m…
Disney Hall on a Friday Night
We are returning from Disney Hall tonight after hearing the work of Bartok and two other Hungarian composers. We stopped at a light and a homeless man named “Wolf” approached the driver’s window. Ray gave him a litttle money to which Wolf said, “I need to get 20 dollars together. It would be better if…
A Miracle Today at the DMV
Today, I learned there really is a God. He shone his glory down upon me the minute I walked into the DMV to renew my driver’s license. Granted I had set up an appointment online for 9:30, but I’ve done that before and still waited 2 hours. Today, I was prepared for the same. I…
A Breakfast Celebration + a Recipe for Ricotta Cheese Waffles
We had a breakfast celebration for Liz today for her birthday. We had ricotta cheese waffles with real maple syrup, turkey sausage, scrambled eggs, freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee. The table was set with a tablecloth, napkins and candles. We had a fire burning in the fireplace all at 7: 30 am. We had…
My Mother and Her Pain
“Please don’t share our family tragedy,” my mother whispered to me while we stood in church together in Pottsboro, Texas in 1990. I understood what she was saying to me. “Please don’t tell these people. I can’t bear to deal with this right now.” Tragedy was not too strong of a word. We had just…
An Excellent Recipe for a Birthday Dinner
Tonight we celebrated my daughter Liz’s 27th birthday. I spent part of the day making her favorite foods for this occasion: spinach and cheese stuffed shells and banana cream pie. Liz’s birthday is not officially until Wednesday, January 16, but because of scheduling issues, we decided to gather tonight for our family dinner and gift-giving….
1st Day Back in LA
I am sitting here with Cameron, my first student in 2013. She, a pretty brown-eyed blonde with hair halfway down her back, has been my writing student since she was in elementary school (she is now a sophomore in high school). We are both feeling sluggish after a long winter break and are using 15…
Back in LA
We arrived at midnight and now it’s 1:45. We have been visiting with daughter Liz and her boyfriend, Ron, who stayed up late to greet us, which was very sweet of them. Now I am in bed after a warm bath. We are due to get up at 5:45 to go help cook breakfast for…
20 Minutes a Day 