Sunday, August 2, 2026

     I scroll through the pictures of food on Instacart at Andronico’s. Time to order but it has been months since I placed an order. My turn to shop for groceries. I am surprised at the high costs. I just want to buy everything, the curse of shopping. I have forgotten how to be a careful shopper.

     Saturday late afternoon I sit in the front yard doing my chair exercises. Then I sit and listen, mourning doves cooing, airplanes flying overhead, the steady drone of cars, a single dog bark as my neighbor arrives home, a distant siren. Lots of bees busing though the plants. I can’t hear the bees but I see them.

     I start reading a new book even though I haven’t finished the others. EARTH 7, sci fi novel by Deb Olin Unferth. Really easy and compelling to read.  Not her first book. On line I look for a medical memoir by a gerontologist, my way of learning how medical world really works. What do doctors working with old people really look for.

     In the evening my tired roommate and I watch an episode of SUGAR, and of RIDE OR DIE. I mute the sound during physical fighting scenes. Foggy morning, birds in the bottle bush trees. More people are tackled by masked ICE thugs in airports. Sigh.

 

Saturday, August 1, 2026

     The old pine tree is gone, now just a raw stump and some sawdust at the side of the road. A huge empty space in the sky. No longer can squirrels race high above the ground among the trees. Less shade for my house, more sunlight for the neighbor’s house. The underground water pipes are once again protected. I am no longer worried about my home being damaged from the harsh new winds. So why then am I so sad to lose this wonderful tree.

     A pile of wood chips are piled by the garden gate for my roommate’s work in the back yard. She would be very excited if she hadn’t just returned from the dental clinic and is recovering in bed.

     A friend comes by for a short visit. She and I are both in our 80’s and have lot of body experiences to share. I give her a bag of New Yorkers and a pile of paper grocery bags. Between the two of us we know many of the local doctors.

     I finish reading the memoir, FAMESICK.  Such a painful sad book. Now I start the Shanghai detective novel, THE SECRET SHARES by Qui Xiaolong. We watch episodes of RIDE OR DIE.  The house is quiet in the evening. Dogs are not barking for a change.  The TV is off. I check facebook for any disaster that might be happening. I wonder what today will bring.

 

Friday, July 31, 2026

     So much excitement this morning in our neighborhood.  The old towering pine tree is being cut down.  The crew of loggers are arriving.  I can hear them talking outside of my window in Spanish. My roommate has moved our cars to protect them from damage. This tree was here when I moved into my house in 1971. I love this pine tree.

      The tree, on city property, has been slowing moving closer to my bedroom ceiling each year.  Twice I have notified the city of the danger of the tree falling on top of me. The city forester has said no, the tree is safe. But now the roots have damaged the water lines. The tree has to go. Our neighborhood is ready for the trucks and machines and workers.

      I keep looking for some excitement each day, some event to remind me I am still alive and kicking, and today is a banner day. Now it is just car sounds and voices but soon the machinery will star cutting and grinding through the day. My roommate hopes to keep some of the wood chips for her backyard farm.

     I am almost finished reading Lena Dunham’s memoir, FAMESICK. Fascinating and difficult to read.  She has had such a troubled life. My personal librarian is taking a break from library deliveries during this summer.  So I manage to pick up and return my own books. It is a struggle walking with my cane and then using the courtesy walker in the building.  It would help if I didn’t reserve so many books each week. In the evening, we watch the final episode of THE MAN MUST BURN, about the Burning Man yearly desert gathering. I am shocked by the reports of masked armed ICE agents violently capturing people in American airports.