Monday, April 20, 2026

     It’s spring and I am ordering books from Amazon. First, I check if the library has them and then without much thought, I just place the order as If I have room in my house for more books. I can’t stop myself.

     I finish reading Penelope Lively’s book MOON TIGER. Definitely a slow powerful read.  I read it 30 years ago and didn’t understand it. But this time it is one of the best books I have read. Maybe a best book because I am finally 85 and can understand what she is writing about.

     In an airplane interview, the pope reports that he solved the day’s wordle puzzle in three tries. What, the pope plays wordle in the morning. Isn’t he always in his robes doing the sacred rituals.  Is it possible people are divided between wordle players and non wordle players. I belong to the non wordle tribe.

     We watch the Netflix movie, ELEANOR THE GREAT. I didn’t anticipate I would like it so much. I also watch a couple of episodes of THE CLOSER.  I remind my roommate as she leaves the room, I have watched more than half of the hundred episodes. I am reading the Australian novel, WILD DARK SHORE by Charlotte McConaghy. The pope is winning the fight with the president (who is incapable of playing wordle.)

 

Sunday, April 19, 2026

     I continue my quest for comfortable park benches in Monterey. There are many hidden benches here. This week, I return to San Carlos Beach Park. I  give up the fight for accessible handicap parking. The tall man helps me resolve the issue. Yes, I now have the parking app. Sigh.

     Yesterday is a two nap day. I love my couch, an old used couch from a relative’s office. It is indestructible. The couch receives me with soft pillows and a warm down throw. I can see the trees out the living room windows. My roommate digs an asparagus bed in the back yard. The potato patch is filled with green bushes.

     I resist doing my daily chair exercises. I am too tired, I suspect I am fooling myself.  Finally, I am sitting outside on the front patio and moving my body. Small gusts of wind shake the tall pine trees.

     We watch the stand up comedian show with Trevor Noah on Netflix. Quite good. I watch another episode of THE CLOSER and Stephen Colbert’s THE LATE SHOW. The ugly political dramas continue in our government. War, inflation, ICE raids, Epstein investigations, storms, sea rising, etc. No easy solutions. Mid term elections are coming.

 

Saturday, April 18, 2026 

     Well, I do it.  I show up at McGowan house for Brown Bag Zen at noon. I sit, nod at friends and talk for 15 minutes. I am so glad they are still alive.  Without newspaper obituaries I never know who is dead or still alive. I am exhausted when I get home.

     I am slightly anxious all morning as I review possible subjects for the talk. And now I can’t remember what I said.  I park on the street and have to face my fear of curbs. I walk the long way around to the car to avoid struggling with the curb.

     I grew up under the strict rules of the 1940’s Catholic Church. I learned to be sneaky when the rules didn’t work for me. I am now willing to admit what I want or need to do. It was difficult to give up being sneaky.

     In the evening, we watch the last episodes of BAD MISTAKES, a Netflix series with some screaming. The ending is great, totally unexpected. I am waiting for the next season. I continue to read Penelope Lively’s novel MOON TIGER. Our crazy politics endure, and I continue to swallow the little pink pill and eat whatever I want. My esophagus is good.