Tuesday, October 6, 2026

     Last year the PA at the urology clinic gives me quick advice on how to avoid another UTI. I am desperate to talk about what went wrong in the recent surgery, and emergency hospitalization for sepsis. The urologist is too busy to meet with me.  The PA is in a hurry and the appointment is over before I can ask questions and talk about what had happened to me. For a year I have been mulling over why no one would listen to me.

     Now as I recover from another UTI, I am willing to hear her recommendations and try the pills she had suggested. There is a lesson here for me but I am not sure what it is.

     I tell the young man, a recent resident of Monterey, a friend of my roommate, to not worry about our heat wave. The fog will return on the third day or maybe the fourth day. I know this from 86 years of living in Monterey.  But what about climate change he asks. Well, this morning the thick cool fog is here.

     Another book I am dissatisfied with. A clever well written murder story. Everyone in the story is suffering and mean and in terrible shape.  Not one likeable character. THE KING OF LIES by John Hart. I am not sure if I will continue. In the evening, we watch the latest episode of TED LASSO and then another episode of our favorite SLOW HORSES.  I have run out of words to describe our corrupt republican government. My ballot has arrived and I am ready to vote.

 

Monday, October 5, 2026    

     In the dark evening, I sit on the deck to see the stars on this warm, almost clear night. Something calms me to look up at these tiny points of light and realize how small we actually are and how little we know about the universe.

     A slight haze is in the air. An airplane flies low and loud from the airport, definitely louder than the distant dots of light, the stars. Periodically I worry I could just fall off this spinning planet. We live on a narrow band of atmosphere supporting our life. On really clear dark skies the fear of falling off the planet does not seem so far-fetched.

     Back in the house, doors locked, roof holding tight, I prepare for bed. Several books, a current New Yorker, a sweet to eat. I sit in my blue recliner, fan on to cool the room, and I read until my mind calms down and the world feels safe again.

     I did watch TV last night and I am trying to remember what it was I watched. I move through various possibilities. I watch Rachel Maddow having a conversation with Ari Emanuel, the successful entertainment billionaire, Two powerful articulate middle aged people with different views of today’s world.  They did not mention the distant stars or the expanding unknowable universe. I can’t get away from the stars today. Looking up to the dark sky is a good remedy for our current corrupt politics.

 

Sunday, October 4, 2026

     I have been bragging to my family that Monterey has great ocean side weather. I swallow these word as the hot weather arrives yesterday. Not as hot as Southern California, but uncomfortably warm. And no fog. Heat should last for a couple of days. We are not exempt from the weather.

     Quiet day doing usual chores.  The Tall man visits, another friend visits. And the day warms up.  Fan in the living room is helpful. I finish the last of the antibiotic pills. Read and take napes.

     This morning, from my bedroom window, I watch my neighbor walking her small dog, while using her cane.  A deer with large antlers stands on the street watching her also. He is standing his ground. He looks like he might shoot us if he had hands and a gun. My neighbor walks quickly avoiding the challenging deer.

     In the evening, we watch several more episodes of EAST OF EDEN, on Netflix. It is high drama and emotion. I am exhausted when I go to bed. It is not an easy show to watch.  I am reading A TRUCE THAT IS NO PEACE by Miriam Toews, a favorite author. Non fiction. Of course, it is wonderful. We also watch some earlier THE DAILY SHOW broadcasts to laugh a bit. Voting starts Monday.  I am ready to throw out all stupid, fearful, corrupt politicians.