Wednesday, May 6, 2026

     We dress in our puffer warm jackets in this foggy chilly morning to sit on the park bench. We meet and talk. I am not sure it will work on such a damp cold day.  But here we are talking and laughing. Too older women who share a social worker background.

      It is the dogs and their humans who make me nervous.  Dogs bite me and spread poison oak.  Not all dogs, but dogs in my past. As the dogs approach the bench I say, I am afraid of dogs. The humans tighten their grip on the leashes and tell me their dog does not bite. I am embarrassed to be such a coward and yet I am afraid of dog danger. Am I the only human with this unpopular fear?

     In the afternoon I give my roommate a ride to her appointment. I sit in the car listening to a podcast on the latest treatments for bladder cancer. In the 5 years of my treatments, many new treatments have been developed. Kinder, easier treatments that may or may not be more effective, and may not be kinder and easier.

    I continue to read Tana French’s new book THE KEEPER.  The book is long and thick with atmosphere. While reading I am living in a small Irish town filled with secrets and mystery. In the evening we are committed to finishing up the TV shows we have started.

 

Tuesday, May 5, 2026

     The house fills with the smell of chocolate chip cookies. Yep the roommate is on the move in the kitchen. And the cookies are really good.

      Do most of my daily exercises on Monday. Four different routines scattered through the day. Maybe too much.  Maybe I need more life.  A friend comes in the morning to write with me.

     We watch a new show, MARGO NEED MONEY. on apple+. Funny and cringey as a young college freshman is seduced and impregnated by her professor. I tell her to stop, don’t do it but she doesn’t listen to the audience. What is it with these guys. I continue to read THE KEEPER by Tana French. A really good book.

     As usual the Rachel Maddow’s Monday night show is a breath of fresh air. She describes the incompetence of the Trump team getting anything done. Yes, without the usual emotional outrage and drama, just focusing on the incompetence. Yea Rachel.

 

Monday, May 4, 2026

     We eat potatoes from our back yard potato patch, with home grown chives for dinner.  Really my roommate’s work is coming to fruition. She continues to struggle with marauding gophers. More backyard food is coming.

    I like to write with friends who like to write together. My favorite kind of writing group meets regularly to do several timed writings and then read our work to each other.  I am frequently surprised about what comes up.  We don’t work on improving our writing.  We are having fun with writing.

     I have started the latest Tana French Irish mystery story, book three in a series. THE KEEPER. Her writing is thick and wonderful.

     My charming granddaughter and I have the same name. So, she recently had an interesting article published in the Santa Cruz paper.  I am tempted to take the credit. But instead I remind folks that it is not me.