Sunday, June 21, 2026

     I am sitting I my living room recliner for hours watching more soccer with the tall man, the roommate, the poet, and the dog lover. And I realize what I am feeling is happiness. They are here with me on my birthday. Later the poet and the dog lover produce a carrot birthday cake.

    In the background is the work sounds of two men who are doing all the minor house repairs accumulated during the last year.  Clear the roof gutters, open up the frozen basement door, replace the heater filter, fix the leaky outdoor faucet, seal the cracked bathroom sky light against the rain, stabilize the raised potato patch bed, move a water drain from away from the house, identify the strange grinding sound near the roof.  Have I forgotten anything?

     My life seems so easy now with the house running smoothly. I love this time when there nothing is on the list to be repaired. I know it won’t last.  It is the nature of house to break apart.

    After soccer and conversations, my talented, hard working roommate and I watch the last episode of CLARKSON’S FARM while we eating carrot cake. Later I continue reading LAND, a novel by Maggie O’Farrell. A classical story of the Irish people through the centuries. Somehow peace and joy have overcome the prevailing corruption and fear, at least for one day.

 

Saturday, June 20, 2026

     The first thing to do in the morning is to check the New York Times web wage to see if we are still at war.  We are. Bombing, fighting, closing the Strait of Hormuz is back. But we are now more interested in soccer then war.

   Yesterday the 5 of us watch the soccer game between Brazil and Haiti in my living room.  The sound is low so we can talk and also watch.  The hero for me is the little man in green who runs on the field not touching the ball, staying close to the action.  The tall man tells me he is the referee. Every man running on the large field is very small on the TV screen.

     We have a long discussion about octopuses (or is it octopi). I have many ideas about these creatures, and the clever poet fact checks me. I am mostly correct and then we talk about the reliability of google and other AI systems. And the little man in green keeps running. The conversations drift through the room.

     I started reading LAND a novel by Maggie O’Farrell based in Ireland. At first it was confusing but then I caught on and really like the book. More books are waiting as I start my 86 year of being alive having opinions, and memories. I realize that 30 percent of my opinions and memories are wrong but I don’t know which 30 percent. I am grateful to them with their trusty phones to fact check me.

 

Friday, June 19, 2026

     My family asks me what I want to do for my birthday this weekend. I don’t know what I want. Breakfast at Denny’s is always good for me. I never have been comfortable with birthday events and now that I am going to be 86 years old, my desires are more limited.  Quiet conversations and carrot cakes are good.

     Driving back and forth from medical offices on Highway 68 and home I notice the trees.  Close to Monterey there is a pine tree forest with super tall pine trees.  After passing the airport road, the oak trees take over. Why has it taken me so long to notice this shift in trees.

     It is my turn to help my roommate with medical issues. She has taken care of me for years. The gusty wind keeps up all day. I watch the opening ceremony of the Obama Center in Chicago.

     In the evening we watch two shows, WIDOWS COVE, a horror comedy series and CLARKSON’S FARM, a working farm with lots of comedy. Yep laughter is the goal last night.