Sunday, November 8, 2026

     The neighborhood black cat shows up most days, on the deck, in the late afternoon looking for my roommate. They have a thing going with massages and treats. No cats into the house, too many allergic relatives. My roommate loves cats.  This is our compromise. 

     I wake up at dawn to the amplified sounds of the Big Sur Half Marathon race downtown. Announcements, cheering singing. No words just sounds. Happy noise.

     I am sticking to the PT leg exercises this past week. I am never sure if a habit will grow and stick. I am looking to eliminate curb fear, yep, the fear of those pesky curbs that keep cars from driving up on the sidewalks. I want to be able to step up without any planning or thought.

     I start watching a Polish Medical show ANAESTHESIA, a new dubbed in English series on Netflix. Confusing at first, but I now like it.  Similar and quite different from our medical shows. Started to read WE SOLVE MURDERS by Richard Osman. A good enough book. Only good news this week.  Congress is back in session Monday and intrigues will start up. No ICE activity reports in the county yesterday.

 

Saturday, November 7, 2026

     I can’t stop listening to the news, reading the times paper, all about the election experiences. Change happens so quickly just as the Berlin Wall fell in a day, the republicans fail in one day. The gates of possibility are open for all of us.

     I eat a pear with my breakfast this morning. My roommate has been shopping and now we have a variety of pears in the kitchen. In my childhood yard we had a pear tree giving us fruit each fall.

     My roommate does the library run on Friday. More unread books stare at me from the dining room table. Choose me, choose me they whisper.

     We are watching GILDED AGE, a colorful view of unhappy wealthy women. I guess it is a change from the murder mysteries I like to watch. We also watch NORTH BY NORTH, season two about women living in the snow and ice. I start reading the New Yorker’s article about the history of the border patrol and ICE.  I stop, it is too painful and grim for me.

 

Friday, November 6, 2026

     We can’t stop smiling and laughing as we eat our Pizza lunch together. Four friends who meet frequently, are giddy with joy as we remind ourselves we won the election and life is going to be better after years of deceit and corruption.

     I have an hour wait to pick up my roommate.  I sit in the car listening to the latest Ezra Klein podcast. More excitement and hope.

     I am parked on Cass street, wondering what is it that is off in the neighborhood. It’s the tall electricity poles running up and down each side of the street.  Wires stretched between poles but are not visibly attached to the buildings. Oh, the connecting wires must be underground.

     In the evening, we follow the standoff happening at the Monterey County jail between ICE thugs and a large group of protestors and legal observers. Later we watch a new episode of NORTH TO NORTH, the delightful Canadian series set in a small arctic community. I am intrigued with Tea Obreht’s new book, SUNRISE.