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.

 

Monday, April 13, 2026

     I give up, I am tired of being cold. I turned up the thermostat in the hallway and the heater jumps into action. Warm air fighting the damp coldness of the current storm.

     A few more birds outside in the bottle bush trees. And the old tall pine trees are still standing up, twisting and turning in the wind. The potato patch is full on with greenery.  The gophers haven’t discovered these plants yet.

     I gave up on the book THIS IS HAPPINESS. It is well written but I don’t like the characters living in the story.  I don’t want to read about alcoholic Irish families even if the story is imaginatively written. I have started reading A REAL EMERGENCY, STORIES FROM THE AMBULANCE BY Joanna Sokol.

     The personal Librarian brings take out Chinese dinner.  We eat and watch the first episode of ANNIKA. We are celebrating my new ability to eat sweet and sour pork. My life is better now that I can predictably swallow food. Thank you little pink pill. And the series is good. Later my roommate and I watch another episode of the frantic, funny BIG MISTAKES.

 

Sunday, April 12, 2026

     55 degrees in my bedroom while I eat my breakfast. I am dressed n layers of warm clothes except for my icy hands. Clouds are dispersing, a huge rainbow sits just outside my window. Sun is beginning to warm up the neighborhood.

     I am particularly intrigued by the thought chapter of Michael Pollan’s A WORLD APPEARS. How difficult to catch our stream of thoughts and describe them. And how we each have individual streams of thoughts.  Words are inadequate to describe our inner worlds.

      I am home alone most of the day. I do my daily chores, read, nap and watch the news. My roommate returns from her master gardening class with two dozen eggs she won in the class. The tall man brings me a box of my favorite cookies from Whole Foods. The professor moves on to continue her vacation in Santa Cruz.  Slowly the clouds and wind gather for the next storm.

     In the evening, we check out the new shows on Netflix and decide to watch BIG MISTAKES, an eight episodes series. Fast moving, some shouting and lots of almost laughter. Funny, serious, grim and a bit stupid.  My kind of show.