Monday, March 16, 2026

     My roommate’s good friends from Pittsfield gave me their favorite book, WILD TREES by Richard Preston.  An unknown to me. I am excited to start reading it.

     While eating my lunch I watch the compelling Jon Batiste preform his music on PBS Austen City Lights. So, along with searching for hidden benches in town, I want to hear more music. I first heard Jon Batiste on the Colbert show. Now I am looking for more music on my TV. In the evening, we watch a bit of the OSCAR AWARDS CEREMONY.

     My house and yard is overflowing with plants, big, small, exotic, strange. My roommate is training to be a master gardener. My favorite is the potato patch in the back yard. Although she tells me the manes of plants, the names don’t stick in my old brain. I have to create memorable names myself.

     Today I go to the Hartnell clinic for blood and urine tests for the cancer surveillance plan. I pretend to myself that it is fine, no worries, but in fact the little engine of anxiety is starting up inside me again.

 

Sunday, March 15, 2026

     Sitting in my bedroom listening to the Sunday morning cars in my neighborhood. Sounds like a car race going on.  And airplanes fly over head unseen but loud. Everything is loud lately.  Must be me.

    My favorite artist friends come for a visit and a long conversation. I think of them as kids but they are close to getting old. We talk for two hours about our lives. He is a hospital nurse when he is not making art and I am a patient when I am not reading books.  We never run out of words. We were roommates for 9 years decades ago.

     The Tall man comes by in the morning for a cup of coffee.  He asks I need any help. Mostly I need to hear stories reminding me that I do belong to a warm kind family.

      I watch evening TV by myself. I splurge with two detective series.  MY LIFE IS MURDER, set in New Zealand and THE CLOSER set in Los Angeles. Both have strong women detectives. I finished the Welsh book RUBBERNECKER by Belinda Bauer.  It was quite compelling but I am reluctant to recommend it. I am not sure why.

 

Saturday, March 14, 2026

     I work with my fear of curbs and managed to step up to the library sidewalk.  With the help of the library courtesy walker, I return 6 books and pick up 5 more. the next task is to deal with my fear of CVS, and get a vaccination.

     There is a lot more laughter in my home lately. My roommate is working on her potato patch and thousands of potted plants. And I am moving around a lot more. Except of course, the national news is dreadful, war, bombings, a demented leader and a compliant military, and ICE raids.

     Last night I start reading RUBBERNECKER, a novel by Belinda Bauer from Wales.  I don’t remember who recommended it.  The library doesn’t have it, so I order a used copy from Amazon. It is a quite a compelling book.

     We are tired of watching detective shows on TV. Well my roommate is tired of dead bodies and the search for the killer, particularly tortured dead women. We love the ER show, THE PITT and THE LONG WAY AROUND, a documentary about two goofy guys on motorcycles traveling around the earth.