Category: Distractions

  • Moving around a roadblock.

    Moving around a roadblock.

      I was going to write about all of the heavy thoughts I’ve been mulling over since the election this past Tuesday and about how at a time like this I would normally feel like jumping up and down, waving flags and celebrating with sheer joy at the outcome,  but I have not done that.  […]

  • Oh Dark Thirty or Something Like That

    I’m not sure how long I’ve been awake, but realize it only when I hear the surf’s low roar in the distance through the window I opened yesterday just to get a bit of cool air in the room, then forgot about.  It’s not quite chilly, but I’d rather it be shut.  The short, quiet […]

  • Empty Nest Syndrome

    Empty Nest Syndrome

      It’s been just more than a month since I finished my year’s obligation  and I’ve busied myself with all sorts of things I wouldn’t exactly describe as constructive.  The weather here has been far less than summery, with the only warm day arriving today when within sight of the Pacific we’ve actually mustered up […]

  • Windy Summer Days & Pickles

    Windy summer days are gifts, their bursts of cool air a welcome relief to my perpetually damp middle-aged skin.  I  stand on the side of the house where the gusts are strongest and raise my arms a bit, allowing it to wash over me in much the same way water does as I swim.  It’s soothing. […]

  • Thinking with asterisks

    William Zinsser says, “To write well about your life you only have to be true to yourself.” I knew that.  It doesn’t make it easier to choose to delve into something I don’t feel like delving into, however, and I recognize all the signs of avoidance — like grabbing my broom to rid the stairs […]

  • Making a plan for myself, maybe.

    Yesterday, I avoided coming up here to sit at the keyboard, to sort through emails, to sip my coffee while scrolling through the early morning cacophony that is Twitter.  I’ve been doing this for more time than I like to acknowledge.  Instead, I straightened things up around the kitchen and the rest of the house, […]