Monday, December 29, 2025 

     Suddenly the desire to shop, to buy stuff is here. I don’t give gifts this holiday, I do receive a few. I have been careful.  Reading the Sunday New York Times does it. The book reviews and the David Brooks report on best essays of the year. I have not used up my quota of book buying desires yet. There is at least ten books in the review that are calling out to me. Sigh.  I am resisting.

     My family is composed of young adults and older people thinking about retirement.  We skip the middle years. And then me at 85, the oldest of them all. They occupy lots of space and have intelligent voices, just as I am reverting back to my childhood interests and have lost my opinions. The hallways and doorways now are too small to accommodate these grown folks. The house is definitely smaller.

     I am reading the non fiction book, CALIFORNIA AGAINST THE SEA, visions for our vanishing coastlines, by Rosanna Xia. Well written and interesting.  I am glad that my house is not on the beach.

     My roommate and I watch more episodes of THE BIG “C” ON NETFLIX while the rest of the family is watching the sunset at Asilomar. Later, we watch the 49er game, rooting, of course, for the 49ers. After two hours I retreat to the quiet of my room. I hear the cheers from the living room as the 49ers win.