Today I have been thinking about Liz’s birth back in 1986. How I had gone to the midwife on the morning of the 15th and declared, “I just need to have this baby,” even though my due date was two weeks away. I don’t know if it was the “I can’t stand being pregnant another second”…
Tag: timed writing
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…
Delayed Trip
We have delayed our trip back to CA because we have had so much to do. Also, because it has been raining along our route either through El Paso or Flagstaff. Alas, it is now 12:34 am and we are still not ready to go. We have lots of work to do in the morning…
Redecorating
Rain is drumming on the tin roof of our Victorian. Lots of rain that promises to bring much-needed moisture to a drought-stricken area. So, the sound has relief contained in it. Gratitude accompanied by a long sigh. Ray and I have been moving furniture around. The red furniture that was in the “green” room is…
Flash Fiction: ‘Tis the Gift to be Simple
Janet wasn’t sure why life seemed so complicated these days. Maybe it had to do with the way the wind was always blowing, tossing her short gray hair this way and that, and reminding her of happier times before Chet died. Chet, her husband of 35 years, who woke up one day and said he…
Time to Switch This Tired Brain to OFF
Welcome to the land of the living dead. Too much work in too short a time. Yikes. I have hit the wall – at least for tonight – and am ready to go stare at the television set with no care for what I am watching. For future reference, please remind me not to combine…
Shopping for a Tiny Apartment Kitchen
‘The house is quiet. It is 11:30 pm. Shadows fall across the floors in 2 rooms I can see from my vantage point in a chair near the gas heater in the staircase room of our Victorian. I don’t have one word to say that I think anyone would find interesting. But here I am…
5 Star Recipe for Orange Cranberry Pecan Muffins
I love collecting recipes and this one came from a recipe box I bought at an estate sale several years ago. The box is made up of two long file drawers in a small oak cabinet and each drawer is crammed full of the owner’s favorite recipes clipped from newspapers or magazines, along with hand-written…
20 Minutes a Day 