Writing Class #3

March 17, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

The prompt for this week is to consider the vulnerability of new growth and what it takes to protect it, tying it into nature. Here is the edited version, after the instructor’s suggestions. Rebirthing It came in the peak of summer that most optimistic time, when sunshine equates with health and bodies glow with exertion […]

RV-Disabled

March 16, 2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

“The bus is ready to be picked up,” Ric announces as he gets off the phone. It’s ten a.m., earlier then we’d expected the repairs to be completed, so we decide to forego the site we’d booked for tonight, just twenty minutes away, and start the journey north today. As it goes, 10:00 turns into […]

Some Days Are Just That Good

March 15, 2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

We return to the hotel room only to find our keys no longer work, so while Ric goes off to the office, I sit and look up at the bright California sky and say: “Thank you for this f***ing amazing life,” and then immediately apologize for the expletive, but sometimes it is just called for. […]

Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens

March 14, 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

In Claremont, California, less than half an hour from where we are staying is a lovely, privately funded natural area with accessible walkways and well choreographed displays. The Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens have over 55 acres of trails, with two short walks available just inside the entrance. The cost for the two of us […]

Los Angeles, California

March 13, 2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

“There’s a place called Balloona Wetlands which is supposed to be good for birding,” Ric tells me the first morning I’m ready to go again. “It’s in LA, though.” Innocently, I shrug and say: “Sure”. We are staying in a motel in Ontario, California while our RV is having some work done. Los Angeles is […]

Pep Talk

March 12, 2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

I’ve faced worse, I told myself when the diagnosis came; I’ll get through this too. And I believe it. Whatever it takes, I am committed. That doesn’t mean that the struggle is lessened in any way. The struggle is very real. It begins with knowing self. I’ve never been one to accept anything at face value. […]

Joshua Tree National Park

March 10, 2018.Reading time 4 minutes.

“Let’s have some breakfast and then just go out for a little bit,” my husband coaxes, knowing that I am not feeling very well. “It would be a shame to be here and not see it,” I agree. My body wants me to spend the day in bed, so I compromise by putting on comfy […]

California and I’m Out of Gas

March 9, 2018.Reading time 6 minutes.

Ric promises me I won’t have to do anything today, and that is a good thing because my legs have turned to plastic overnight and when I tried to take the few steps to the kitchen this morning the floor rose up to greet me and I had to hold onto the counter to keep […]

Bill Williams River

March 7, 2018.Reading time 2 minutes.

Just outside the visitor centre for Bill Williams River National Wildlife Refuge is a well manicured and paved walkway that leads down to the water with several covered stops along the way. The day we decided to visit was quite warm, and as I still haven’t quite recovered from Sedona’s excursions, I was happy to […]

Lake Havasu City, Arizona

March 6, 2018.Reading time 3 minutes.

Along the Colorado, an hour or so north of Quartzsite, is the city of Lake Havasu, home to the London Bridge (yes, the British one). “I seem to remember a story about this bridge,” I tell Ric. “Something about how when they bought it they thought they were getting the Tower Bridge.” The London bridge […]