I didn’t know what to wear. Tina said exercise pants below the knee, a T-shirt, tennis shoes. I don’t have any exercise pants that aren’t shorts or full-length. I don’t have “tennis shoes,” only running shoes. My T-shirts are in storage boxes or else are abominable rags. After a lot of contemplation, I chose stretchy … read more Kickin’ it
Author: Lisa
The distance I feel
I used to love to talk to my sisters on the phone. We’d talk for hours. There was never enough time to talk to my sisters as much as I wanted to. I’ve got old friends who I used to talk with that way, too. Hours. Today, I talked to one of them. I squeezed it in … read more The distance I feel
Law-abiding but oblivious
What’s wrong with this picture? Nothing, from a legal standpoint. There’s a handicapped parking space, and the non-handicapped driver has parked in the adjoining space. However, that adjoining space is where the cutaway sidewalk and ramp come up from the parking area. By parking there, this person has completely cut off access to the pool … read more Law-abiding but oblivious
The 11th day of the rice and sugar cult
Every day I go to a tree, any tree. Around the base, I scatter a mix of sugar and rice. There is no incantation, no prayer, no special method of scattering the rice and sugar. I have done this for 11 days in a row. The ritual is to break my chain of bad luck. … read more The 11th day of the rice and sugar cult
Packing it IN
Tom, the stroke-bound slacker, sits in the recliner while I’m carrying 40-pound boxes from basement to main to loft and finding a place for the pots and pans in the pantry and texting the packout crew to ask where our pillows are. He wants me to stop and look at cat videos on Facebook. Spouses … read more Packing it IN
Zip it good
Amanda wanted badly to tell me something about the house, but she’d only met me a few hours before. She didn’t know how I’d react. She turned to her mom. “Should we tell her about… you know…” Judy looked at her daughter, face frozen. “The lady,” Amanda said. “You know. Out back.” Judy said, “Sure.” … read more Zip it good
Seven pairs of pants
Since I’ve lost 25 pounds, all but a few pairs of pants are now too big for me. So I still look fat, wearing all these baggy clothes. I hate shopping, though, especially clothes shopping. And ESPECIALLY pants shopping. Because you have to try on soooooo many pairs to find pants that fit right and that aren’t … read more Seven pairs of pants
A change of plan
Chance of thunderstorms was around 50 percent, but we thought the skies had cleared. The last lightning strike had hit more than 45 minutes before. So we piled into the car to drive to the pool. We really wanted to go swimming. It’s still hot, another long day, and we wanted to exercise in the water. Skies were grey … read more A change of plan
Big booties to fill
Been thinking about Grandma Alma again. Alma had a husband who made her promise to keep the family together and then died leaving her with eight small children, no money and a mortgage she couldn’t pay, and then people bought her farm stuff for pennies at auction and some of them never paid her. I … read more Big booties to fill
Bear bust
Yesterday was busy enough as it was, but I also had to stop to intervene in a neighborhood break-in. I was driving to go and fix lunch for Tom. A fat black bear cub was wandering along the road. I slowed to a crawl, looking for his mother. She was easy to spot. Standing on … read more Bear bust