Friday, September 18, 2026

     When I was a young single mother with three children and a full time job, I would fantasize about getting TB and being able to stay in bed for a year.  I would read and sleep. It was the reading that I longed for.  Now I have been sick for 5 years and I am tired of it. I have read thousands of books and taken thousands of naps. I am ready to get up. I find out in October if the cancer is back.

     I go to bed last night to the sound of the military bugle at 10pm and this morning wake up to the 7am wake up bugle. Monterey is a military town.

     I struggle with folding sheets. I take the sheets out of the dryer, two double bed sets, and try to fold them.  My arms are not wide enough and there is no place to lay them out. Finally, I just roll each sheet up. They will be wrinkled.

     I am reading two novels now, one British and one Danish. Both interesting and readable.  RANGE by Dorthe Nors and EDDIE WINSTON IS LOOKING FOR LOVE BY Marianne Cronin. We watch more of LATERNS but I don’t know if we will continue. A messy Bro series. And the news is difficult as we get closer to the midterms. The question is will we collapse first before the Kennedy center is destroyed by our corrupt president.  I do feel vulnerable to the chaos that could arise. Corrupt president is at fault.

 

Thursday, September 17, 2026  

     I no longer can sign in as spider woman.  My car remains spider free. I drive to the library to return overdue books, and my car needs to be driven or it will die again. I park in the back and slowly climb the ramp with the 4 books to return. Friends usually pick up books for me, but I want to test my ability to be independent. I fail. I do need help with getting library books.

     Inside I grab the courtesy walker and find the 7 waiting books. I can’t carry the books to my car and ask for help. A kind librarian carries the books down the ramp to my car.  My roommate brings the books into the house.

     Sheldon Wolin was a professor of Political Science and philosophy in 1960 at UC Berkeley.  In his class I learn about the underlying philosophy of our country’s governance and politics. I barely passed. The next semester I audited the same class to learn more. I developed a life long interest in why we are the way we are.

     Now I am reading another novel by Marianna Cronin, EDDIE WINSTON IS LOOKING FOR LOVE. A delightful warm story about a 90 year old man. I watch another episode of BROKENWOOD MYSTERIES, a British series. This morning band music fills the air, probably from the high School. I read the New York Times with my breakfast. The whole world is on fire thanks to our corrupt war mongering president.

 

Wednesday, September 16, 2026 

     Vaccine time. I used to go downtown Ordway but that pharmacy is long gone. I can get the flue shot at my Primary doctor’s but not the other vaccines. The choices seem to be Safeways grocery store or CVS. I wonder if doctors on duty do vaccinations. I haven’t been in a store for the last 5 years.  Safeway in Pacific Grove is the most promising.

     The cleaners arrive yesterday. They come biweekly and suddenly the house is in order and manageable. I give them a bunch of my roommate’s tomatoes from the back yard.

     What did I do yesterday.  Nothing I can think of.  Foggy day, read a lot, walked a bit on the deck, greeted the meals on wheels volunteer, read some more, took a nap. Oh yes I did walk to the mail box late in the day.

     I finished reading the delightful novel THE TRUE TRUE STORY OF RAJA THE GULLIBLE AND HIS MOTHER by Rabih Alameddine, a wonderful novel.  I will look for his other books. In the evening, we watch the first episode of LANTERNS. A good enough show about invading aliens. And then an episode of our favorite show, TRYING. And of course, the news, don’t want to miss the possible end of our democracy due to the corrupt president. Yes, I am going to vote as soon as I get my ballot. I want to save our democracy.