I am doing a timed-writing with my student Riley. We are sitting in the tv room with four windows wide open and two fans running: the ceiling fan and a box fan.  The temperature outside is due to get up to 88 today, I think, which is not too bad given that LA has been experiencing…

I have just returned from the “Stories from the Heart IX” writing conference in Austin, where I had the honor of spending time in the company of the most open, honest, loving and wise women I’ve had the occasion to meet in a very long time.  I don’t even know quite how to put these…

To my beloved friend: My best friend growing up was Patricia Butler. I met her when I was three and she was four, when her family moved to my little town and began attending our tiny Episcopal mission there. Patricia was the polar opposite of me in appearance: she had big blue eyes, snow-blonde hair…

My skin is a conduit of memory. One soft touch takes me back to my sweet high school boyfriend, the first male to every caress me; one harsh squeeze reminds me of one of my college boyfriends, the only person who ever physically hurt me; one stroke on my back connects me to my mother…

Yesterday, Ray and I were up in the town of Ojai (population 8,000) where we have our orange grove. We went up there to join our daughter Liz and her fiancé Ron to attend the 4th of July parade in downtown Ojai.  Apparently every year many of the residents put their lawn chairs out on…

Yesterday, Luna and Nico went to church with us. When I told Luna at breakfast that we were going, she said, “Aw, Grandma, I don’t like church.” I shrugged. “When you visit Grandma and Grandpa on a Sunday morning, church is just what we do.” She went back to eating her oatmeal. On the way…

This is a repost, but I was reading about John Steinbeck just this morning and for that reason, this seems especially fitting to share tonight.  I appreciate so much Steinbeck’s willingness to share his uncertainty about his writing.  His openness and generosity help me not to feel quite so alone. I have just begun reading…

This morning Ray and I got up at 5:30 and went to cook breakfast for the needy at St. Thomas the Apostle Episcopal Church, Hollywood. When we arrived at 6, the lights were all off in the parish hall and there were two homeless men waiting outside for our arrival. As we walked up, one…

I had a lovely visit with Fong Nham and his girlfriend, Kelly Luc, who drove all the way from Rosemead, CA to see me today. I worked with Fong two years ago on his applications to medical school and with Kelly this past year on her application to Physician Assistant school.  They were kind enough to…

I learned today that a friend of mine has been diagnosed with ALS.  She and her husband are writers and have been chronicling this experience for several months, though today was the day they announced it out in the world.  Their journal entries, which they have shared with friends, are so full of love, pain,…