A Blog for 2025

February 28, 2025  I can't quite remember what year it was.  What year was anything?  I spend so much time trying to create the timeline of my life.  I can't figure out what the obsession is all about.  I want to remember what year it was Teddy Becker and I sailed a wooden raft out into the Sound off the Madison beach.  It must have been 1966.  I think I had my first Twizzler then, too.  I spend hours trying to establish dates for tiny little memories that no one remembers but me.  Like the story I told the other night about drinking for the first time, I think that was 1967, but then I think, was it?  And what does it really matter?   Most recently its made me want to talk to Barb and ask her if she remembers.  Was Paul 16 in 1966?  He would not have had his license yet that summer, but Daddy let him drive the Wagoner on the highway.  The truth is Paul was probably a more competent driver at that point.  Da...

February 27, 2025  What was your favorite candy bar when you were a kid?  I went through stages.  I remember in the early days, driving to Mecca's pharmacy on Sunday morning to get the Times, I wanted a Mounds.  I already knew dark chocolate was my favorite.   During my years with Andy, Twizzlers were the best.  You don't even wanna know why.  I ate huge amounts of plain M&Ms instead of drinking in graduate school.  And at some point Trix had me addicted.  Today I'm eating Lily's chocolate because it is sweetened with Stevia , which does not thrill me, but it's better than many alternatives.  But the truth is I need to get off chocolate entirely.  (That was kind of a confessional rant.)  Tulips are so much more than they initially appear.  These lasted the week and they have slowly gone through their phases with several of them still to peak.  I watched the one break apart and fall to the ground in a slow and...

  February 26, 2025 Here comes the weather,  clouds are pouring in.  I can't really see, the sun is shining through a haze and when I stare at it it blinds me,  I'm blinded by the light.  Giving up the majority of my routine has made me lose a sense of time.  I'm unaware of where I sit in the day.  I'm kind of lost at this point.  I've had enough of my forced slow down.  I need to be able to get in my car and go shoot photos.    I'm not kidding about these clouds, there a very large dark cloud moving rapidly.  It's 45 degrees but in another few hours its supposed to start snowing.  Nothing is how it should be.  "Things are seldom what they seem, skim milk masquerades as cream."  (Pinafore, Gilbert and Sullivan.)    I played Little Buttercup in the 3rd grade.  That was a line in one of my solos.  I remember being transfixed by it, entirely caught up in its meaning.  I find myself singing t...

  February 25, 2025 January thaw at the end of February.   I'd never lived in a city before.  One can't really claim Shattuck Ave as real city, except it's only a few blocks to the University campus, and once you're there, you are in a city.  I hadn't even ever lived where there were sidewalks.  The ability to walk outside the front door and walk three blocks to the Safeway was a brand new concept that was both scary and freeing. I was used to being self sufficient and able to come and go as I pleased, but on foot to whatever I needed was a new experience.     Mike Dockwiller and I walked the Berkeley streets for a week straight.  We walked to the kite store, we walked to the outdoor equipment store, we saw That's Entertainment at the movie theater a few streets away.  We walked to the top of the hillside and watched at least 6 cities worth of fireworks on July 4, 1976.  (They really did try to teach me to play with a frisbee w...

  February 24, 2025 Made it to the Y this morning, am so glad.  Makes all the difference in the world to my mind set David picked me up there and escorted me through the steps of getting the car back on the road.  The step that had been tripping me up was not able to be completed within the 2 hours we had, but almost all was done and it became clear that the bureaucracy will hang me up another week.  I will try Friday to register the car.  Meanwhile, I have another week of slowing down, depending on other people, saying no more often and having to stay home more.  I don't think this is a bad thing.  I think the last week has done me good.  So thank you all those who have helped me through this very long process.  Know that you all are making a very big difference in this individual's life and you are very appreciated.  My hero. Or maybe she's my hero, I don't know.  They both make me smile. .  

February 23, 2025 A slow day, a comfort day. photo by David   I took no real photos today.  I didn't walk outside the house at all. Did three loads of laundry, cooked dinner for me and Diane, organized the house plants, and napped.    I've been thinking about 100 word stories.   We woke up and the sun was shining and the bedroom was bright.  It was my birthday and I was waking up with a nine year old who'd come for a sleep over the night before.   "I know what we should do for your birthday, Lindy, we should go for a feather hunt at the cove.  Let's go eat breakfast out and go take a walk at the Cove."   I couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate my birthday than to go for a feather hunt.  I don't think I'd ever declared a feather hunt before. Sure I'd found feathers walking in the cove before, but I'd never claimed such intention.  EJ claimed it with strength, that's what we should do on this day of my birth....

February 22, 2025 I'm becoming more and  more aware of the fact that when I have something to say about something, I have to sit on it for a couple days before I speak.  I'm not even aware of what the topic is at the moment; I just know that something is stewing in there, waiting to find the right avenue.  It's not as though I'm silent, I still talk a lot, but I don't seem to focus on what I'm really wanting to say. I've been thinking a lot about the winding road of life.  I've been thinking of lots of silly stories recently.  I'm going to try my hand at 100 word stories.  I think it's a perfect format for some of my stories.   EJ used to want me to write the Geoff and Lindy stories and I think I'm going to try to write a couple as 100 word stories and see if they work better in that format or children's book format.   I used to walk everywhere in Greenfield.  I wouldn't take the car out for a couple days.  I walked to work, I ...

February 21,2025 Happy Birthday, David dear!!! I'm sorry we couldn't see each other today on your day.   If I had a car I would have run to Amherst to give you a hug.  You are so important to me and I am so happy  your parents brought you into this world and that our lives knocked into each other so many years ago.   Another event has come and gone and I'm exhausted.  Again, it was really good, and again I was disappointed in the size of the audience, not the quality of the audience, that was wonderful, but in the size.   8 authors showcased their new book.   Jazmine Brewington read her aunt's poems really well, and I presented the Anthology along with my book.  I think those who were there appreciated what they heard.  The variety of writing was great, and there were as many new people as long time friends.  The children's corner got well used and the kids were eating the cookies and creating puppet shows, silently. ...

February 20, 2025 I know it doesn't really look like it, but it was a beautiful day today.  After a frigid night it actually got to 30 by mid-afternoon. There was an actual half moon shining through my window early this morning.  She was shiny and bright.  Nice to see her, I haven't seen her in a few days.  I think it was 8 degrees when I took this.  Part of me wants to embrace the idea that I am an elder, but it is so difficult to figure out what that means.  And to tell you the truth if it weren't for the joint disorder I would argue that I am in my later middle age, not an elder.   In 1991 just before my Mother's 72 birthday and my 39th we went to Japan to visit Jason where he had been for the past four years.   Mom and I saw it as this huge opportunity.  I remember thinking she was old and I might never get to travel with her again.  I loved travelling with her because she was so inquisitive and determined.  Jason want...

February 19, 2025 Cold, but sunny. It was a full day and I continued to stay focused on what I was grateful for. The Montague Bookmill is a great place to go and write.  I actually get stuff completed there even when its crowded.  I don't know why, there is just something about the atmosphere of the old mill, the water rushing near you, down a sloping waterfall,  trees all around and the wood of the mill itself.  You're surrounded by books, the smell of good food, the smell of the wood and friendly conversations from all kinds of people.    Today Skyler and I went down there for the afternoon and got some stuff done.  I also realized I have some interesting history there.   I composed the first letter I wrote to my daughter there with my friend, Jay.  It was so intense, and frightening.   Today I talked about writing about writing my First Mother play and the effects the act of doing so had on my own journey.  Maybe this i...