Ray woke me up in Ojai this morning with the words, “I took Sammie outside and she pooped twice. She’s up and walking around.” “That’s great,” I said, “but we’re going to follow through with our plan. I can’t take another day of mourning like yesterday.” “Let’s just talk to the vet and see how…
Category: Writing as a Discipline
Reflections on Living, Dying and Our Little Dog, Sammie
This has been a strange day indeed. We went to the vet this morning with our Scottish terrier, Sammie, only to get the diagnosis we feared: a cancerous mass in her belly and another on her lung. No pain now, but pain would be coming very soon. I was prepared to allow the vet to…
Childhood Refuges
I was a solitary little girl, who loved to nestle in the space between the Nandina bushes and the white picket fence in our backyard; bare toes digging into the loose North Texas black soil; bare arms serving as racetracks for doodlebugs in exploration. My dog, Bob, was my constant companion. He was middle-sized, black…
Habitat for Humanity Report from Liz and Ron
Daughter Liz and her boyfriend, Ron, have returned from their 10 day trip to Alaska to work on a Habitat for Humanity house in Anchorage. We saw them tonight and heard about the trip. The highlights that we heard tonight are as follows: 1) Yes, they hope to do this again. They are considering a…
Off to See Where the Famous Are Buried
Today my cousin, his wife and I went to Westwood Village Memorial Park at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood to see the cemetery where many Hollywood stars are buried. The most famous is Marilyn Monroe. Below are tombstones of a few people who are familiar to most of us. It’s a great small cemetery directly…
Photo Essay: Dinner at Sarah’s
We ate dinner this evening with Sarah and Gregorio. Here are a few photos: My son-in-law grilling Luna drawing Lee Entertaining while Elaine listens Sarah and Gregorio Preparing More Entertaining Food Ready Lovely evening, great food, excellent company. Thank you, Sarah and Gregorio for hosting. See you all tomorrow.
Visitors from Texas
My first cousin, Lee Leatherwood, and his wife, Elaine, are here in LA visiting from Austin, Texas. Lee and I are six days apart in age, and grew up in the same little Texas town. Our kids are close to the same age and we have many interests in common, which include writing, reading, and…
Daughter Rachael: Off on Her New Adventure
Dear Rachael, I know you are moving to your new home this weekend and starting law school soon; however, please remember that no matter what you do or how old you get, you’ll always be my baby. The picture below was taken 21 years ago this month. I love how we are giving each other…
Oatmeal Date Bars with Maple Syrup
I love Greg Patent’s cookbook, Baking in America: Traditional and Contemporary Favorites from the Past 200 Years. I made a recipe for maple date bars with lemon zest just a few days ago, but tomorrow I am going to make the recipe below. Not only does it call for the zest of a whole orange,…
Great Television: Better Late Than Never
Ray and I have finished all of Friday Night Lights – yes, that’s like 65 episodes – and now we have begun Six Feet Under. Who knew television could be so good? We watched episode one tonight. We are also watching the second season of True Detective, which is also excellent. One of the main…
20 Minutes a Day 