Saturday, October 17, 2026 

     Happy No Kings Day again, also No Queens Day but definitely we still have princesses and knights. You can see them at Disneyland and dressed up for Halloween. Time for a No President Trump’s Day.

     Another hot day. Another hot day waiting for the fog to return. I sit with a fan in the living room yesterday for most of the day. The droning sound of the motor and the constant breeze of the fan swirl around me. I argue with the fog, where are you now?  What are you waiting for?

     The two young women, computer engineers, stop by for a visit. I finally understand a bit of what they do as I watch the coding glitch showing only non English subtitles for a TV show I like.  I love these charming kids.

     We watch the last episode of LUDWIG. My favorite show. The heat has dulled our bodies and we turn off the TV.  I continue reading the compelling novel, THE WRONG END OF THE TELESCOPE, by Rabih Alameddine. Where is the friendly ocean fog.

 

Friday, October 16, 2026

     A good friend will be sworn in as a US citizen in time to vote in the upcoming election. She is looking forward to voting. Another old friend comes by for help in filling out his ballot. The ballots are confusing and long. We old people have to stick together and help this country function again.

     Already the morning is warming up and there is no fog in sight. My best plan is to cover parts of my body with wet towels and wait it out in the afternoon. In fog I trust.

     I am thinking it might be a good idea to sit in a hotel lobby with an ocean view. I think lobbies are open to the public, at least they were decades ago.

     We watch the first episode of the new season of THE DIPLOMAT. Too confusing and I didn’t much like it but I will stick with it. Then we watch another episode of my favorite LUDWIG. A new book I am reading, the novel, THE WRONG END OF THE TELESCOPE, by Rabih Alameddine, a Lebanese writer. Yep I am liking it. Another school shooting in Oregon. Too many guns and unhappy shooters in our faltering country.

 

Thursday, October 15, 2026

     I am surprised to read that Pope Leo has lung cancer. I thought he might be exempt just like I think my doctors are exempt from getting sick or having accidents. It is that strange glitch in my mind that divides people into normal and special. Pope Leo is special and I am normal.

     A friend arrives with a take out salad from Elroys grocery. We eat and talk in the living room. I close the curtains to keep the room from heating up from the sun. Cold morning, warm afternoons.

     I tell my friend I want an in person support group for people with bladder cancer. It could be helpful for me to talk about my yucky cringy experiences with cancer.  I know they are out there.  I see them in the medical waiting rooms.  With out a structure and leadership the waiting rooms are silent.

     We watch the ending episode of LANTERNS. A good enough show.  But I am excited about THE SMALL PROPHETS series. I finish GHOST EYE and am very satisfied with this novel. I watch the news about the wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East. Bombing, killings, huge blasts and smoke and fire. I start wondering what it would be like here if the war arrives in my neighborhood. Let’s get the incompetent dangerous president and his friends out of politics.