Taking Stock

Yesterday at 7:47 pm

Ajvar!

A View from My Seventies, From the Past, In the Kitchen, at the Table

Gentle Reader, While I’m closeted writing a novel I hope you’ll enjoy reading, it’s been suggested I post pieces from earlier years … years when I was freshly widowed, living in or near L.A. with my dog, waiting for Bill…

12 Nov at 7:28 pm

Sabbatical–Sort of

Aging Ain’t for Sissies, Musings

Dear Ones, I am a wreck. Yes, the blow of the election first…but now absorbing How It’s Going to Be is really taking its toll… I ask my Trumpian friends please to pardon this point of view if it offends.…

5 Nov at 6:39 pm

Transitions

Musings

I write this early Tuesday afternoon—November 5th, THE BIG DAY, the day we’ve been anticipating for months and months. Obviously the future of our country hangs in the balance. Around 4:00 o’clock this afternoon, the first voting places in the…

27 Oct at 5:33 pm

Helping Preserve America the Incomparable

News, Taking Stock

Bill isn’t sleeping, I’m barely sleeping…so worried. No election in history ever with so much at stake… Haven’t done the volunteering I planned I’d do. Won’t bore you with the reasons (but yes, age and time are factors). Trying to…

20 Oct at 8:20 pm

Mother Nature’s Magical Palette

Around and About, In the Kitchen, at the Table

If someone told you there are magic foods from Mother Nature that are not only among the most delectable she makes but help to improve brain health and memory, lower blood pressure, and reduce the risk of stroke and heart…

15 Oct at 8:43 pm

Son of “In Praise of Green Tea”

In the Kitchen, at the Table, Looking Over My Shoulder

This morning there was a piece in The New York Times*: ”Is green tea really ‘nature’s Ozempic’?” (The latter—should you not watch television—is the new magic potion for losing weight.) The answer to the question was “unclear.” But apparently green…

8 Oct at 1:54 am

Maybe Once In A Lifetime…

Musings

Maybe once in a lifetime you’ll have a friend who, when you’re out of other options, will pick you up at 5:30 a.m. and drive you to the hospital for a 6:00 a.m. surgical appointment… then will hang around with…

29 Sep at 11:37 pm

Ah, Maggie, You Have Taken Your Leave Too Soon!

Musings

Ah, Maggie, like your brilliant colleague before you, Glenda Jackson, you have taken your leave too soon! Eighty-nine is too young (take it from one who knows firsthand…). I can’t bear the thought your work is finished. Reading Dame Maggie…

23 Sep at 4:47 pm

The Windhover

Musings

A few hours ago on our morning walk with Uschi (our six-year-old eighty-eight pound German Shepherd), sun shone gold, ocean dazzled dark blue. Bill and I chatted…sparingly. Our hearts are heavy. A cherished friend is at the last stage of…

18 Sep at 12:26 am

Russ Parson’s Fennel Polpette–Not Another Meatball!

In the Kitchen, at the Table

Last Friday, we invited a dear friend who will soon be leaving Santa Cruz to come to dinner. I asked what special dish I could make for him and he said, “Spaghetti.” My mind whizzed to “Straw and Hay” (about…