Category: From the Past

17 Apr at 1:14 am

And So the Clock Ticks…

≈ Dear Friends… One of the curious–surprising, unsettling, discomforting–things that happens when the years have mounted on top of you (I can feel them on my back, it’s why I walk bent over, terrible) is that you become aware of…

10 Apr at 6:13 pm

18th Century Henry Fielding on 21st Century Dictatorship*

Musings

4

In Fielding’s 1749 masterpiece, The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling, on Tom’s journey to London he and his servant, Partridge, encounter a Gypsy community. Partridge is lured into trouble by a Gypsy woman, then is rescued by the Gypsy…

6 Apr at 4:29 pm

Panic!

Aging Ain’t for Sissies, Around and About

9

“Hey, Siri, where are you?” I love Siri’s crisp answer, “I’m over here.” I’m so messy-minded these days I ask Siri to tell me where I’ve set him several times a day. No answer this time. What is this? I…

26 Mar at 1:37 am

Happy Accidents Ginger Cake of Many Virtues

In the Kitchen, at the Table

16

A perk of living long is that, given the opportunity (and faculties intact), you can have the exhilarating experience of seeing old friends in a fresh light. A standby of fifty years, constant year in, year out, can suddenly turn…

20 Mar at 11:47 am

Bravery and Beauty

Becoming My Own Best Self, From the Past

11

Well, I did it. Amazing. For weeks it was first-present on my mind. It even drowned out my anxieties about Our Country, Our World… For a wonder, for a mercy… I’m proud of myself. Can’t believe I really did it.…

2 Mar at 1:38 pm

“Choices:” Hefty Word

Musings

5

Our Meyer lemon tree (organic goes without saying in this part of the world) is studded with gold. It is an enormous tree and bears hundreds upon hundreds of fruits. Early spring is citrus season, and Santa Cruz is dappled…

19 Feb at 12:02 am

For Yulia and Alexei

Becoming My Own Best Self

4

Yulia Navalnaya. Beautiful name. Beautiful woman. Proud. Grateful. In the depths of despair. I wish I could write her a letter that I know she could read. Yulia cannot receive her beloved husband’s body to place in the earth, much…

14 Feb at 2:02 pm

Valentines for My Life

Aging Ain’t for Sissies

13

Happy Valentine’s Day! Gentle reader, will you please be my Valentine? I would be honored. I regret I haven’t been with you much lately. As I’ve previously mentioned, I suffered a blow last October that knocked the wind out of…

2 Feb at 8:00 pm

Christmas on a Desert Island?

Becoming My Own Best Self

9

I’m thinking of decamping at the end of the year…around December 20th…maybe 18th. Going off to–are there desert islands anymore? I cannot get my groove back. Christmas 2023 threw me into a tizzy. I won’t give particulars as to why…

29 Jan at 5:14 pm

Doing Good By Stealth

Musings

11

I was accompanying Bill to an appointment with his Cough Doctor. As is my wont/want, I brought along my present project of needlework. I don’t relish sitting empty-handed doing nothing. (When we go to friends’ for dinner, it’s a selfless…