Thursday, April 16, 2026

     My mind is full of rapid ideas, streams of thoughts.  I am going to be the substitute speaker at Brown Bag Zen on Friday. The talk should be about a dilemma in my life now. Mostly I have medical issues. But who wants to hear my medical stories.  My mind is definitely unsettled this morning. I trust my mind will figure it all out by Friday noon.

     I had a huge collection of brown paper bags piled up on the kitchen floor. Yesterday I gave a bunch to a visiting friend. Now I just have a large collection.

     While my roommate is out for the evening I watch several new shows on TV. The one I like is EUPHORIA. Might be a good show to watch together.

     I start rereading MOON TIGER by Penelope Lively.  I had read all of her books in the 1990’s. A tricky book that requires all of my attention. And I love it. And of course, the political news continues, will the president be impeached or maybe drummed out for incompetence. I will be glad to see him gone.

 

Wednesday, April 15, 2026

     Of course, I have a lot of opinions about politics in our country. I watch the daily news. I read the newspapers.  But I am tired of my opinions, tired of pushing for some point of view. We do watch several TV shows but right now the names escape me. I think about from Michael Pallon’s book on consciousness, THE WORLD APPEARS. Life is such a mystery.

     The birds have returned to the bottle bush trees this morning. I was afraid they would never return. Jumping around on the loose limbs, chirping and eating things too small for me to see.

     I do two chores on Tuesday. At the bank I pick up some cash and deposit a check. I may be one of their last customers going to the counter and asking for cash. My bank has been sold to new owners and now new furniture and new staff. How safe is this new bank now.

     I also go to the library and pick up 7 more books to read. I use their courtesy walker to move my book pile to the check out station. A staff person brings the books out to the car and my roommate brings them into the house. I am working on getting stronger. Books are so heavy.

 

Tuesday, April 14, 2026

     The rain stops and the doors are open. The trees and plants are glistening, sparkling, reflecting the sun light back to my eyes. Two new writing buddies come in the morning for the first time. We introduce ourselves then write and read to each other. A good session. And I feel the absence of my missing friends. We plan to write again.

     In the late afternoon sitting in the sun, I do my chair exercises.  I watch the tall pine trees whip around in the wind gusts. I wonder if the trees will crash down and whose house in the neighborhood will be hit.

     I don’t go out to do errands in the afternoon.  I start reading a new nonfiction book, A REAL EMERGENCY, stories from the ambulance, by Joanna Sokol. Surprisingly well written and interesting. Now I will understand what is happening if I need use an ambulance to go to the ER again.

     I start to watch THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW and then turn it off.  Not sure why. I am usually energized by her show. We do watch a stand up comedian on Netflix, SHEN WANG, in a show called PURPLE. My roommate laughs out loud at his stories.  I find him clever and a good story teller but not so laughable. Sometimes laughter just doesn’t arise in me.