Category Archives: updates

Five Granola Bars for Manuel (and why I’m a changed person)

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(l-r) Manuel’s mother Alma Rosa, Manuel, now age 12, and me. Photo by Yvonne Reynolds

“That trip changed me,” I said to Jerry this morning, referring to my recent January 22-28 Mexico Sponsor Tour.

Jerry took a chug-a-lug, gulp, snort of coffee from his gargantuan Mickey cup he bought at Disneyland.

Silence took hold of the moment. Then Jerry said, “I know. I see the change in you.”

I slurped my Irish Breakfast tea loudly (ok, Jerry didn’t snort and I didn’t slurp loudly, but I want to make sure you’re paying attention and you might nod off if I don’t add drama once in a while). But I did have Irish Breakfast tea and I did take a dainty sip before I asked, “In what way do you notice that I’ve changed?” read more

The Day I Almost Sat on a Stranger (which was very recently)

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I shove my debit card into the cash machine at the bank while Jerry waits in the car. My thoughts drift…la, la,la, I wonder why this bank has an armed guard at the front door? Was there a bank robbery here and they now need the extra security? …la, la, la, that has got  to be a very boring job, standing there all day, la, la, la, …

I punch the buttons, the machine clicks and cackles, then spits the money out. I hurry back to the car...la, la, la, why does the cash machine give us only twenties. I want tens…la, la, la,  read more

I Will Survi-iiiii-ive Without Jam (hey, hey)?

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I had eaten half my cranberry-turkey salad when I realized I didn’t get the jam for my whole-wheat bread. I asked our server as she breezed by our table, and who created wind gusts in her haste to get to another table, if she would bring me the jam I had ordered. “Oh yes, I’ll get that for you,” she said as she whooshed by causing my blondish-locks to blow wildly in her wake.

Five minutes later I noticed our server whooshing back and forth serving customers at other tables. She seemed to have forgotten my request. The holiday shoppers had descended on the bakery like bees swarming a flowering bush. Determined to have jam, I left my seat and asked the cashier at the counter if she would bring me some jam. read more

Visions of Buffalo Dancing on Our Tile

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Fancy-Schmancy (not its real name) tile store.

“No. I don’t accept. Cancel our order!” Jerry said.

We had driven north of Phoenix, way out in nowhere. It took forever to get to the Fancy-Schmancy Tile & Stone Company. For all I knew we had reached the Canadian border by the time Jerry and I pulled into the tile store’s parking lot. Eh?

Before embarking on our long drive northward, I had called various tile stores to inquire about terracotta tile, the kind of tile I wanted for our atrium. Only Fancy-Schmancy had what I wanted. read more

Quiet Please, When You Enter the Magic Room

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“I CAN’T HEAR-RRRRRR YOUUUUUU!” Jerry’s voice thunders so loud that anyone within a mile radius requires hearing protection.

We had just parked at a tile store to check out tile for our new atrium or garden room, or as Jerry calls it, “Magic Room.” Jerry says he envisions our patio enclosed in glass with indirect lighting and huge potted plants. He sees it in his mind and it will be magical.

To make the magic come alive, we need the right kind of tile for the Magic Room’s floor.

Before entering the store, we stop to check out the tile samples displayed in the parking lot. I say something to Jerry, (I can’t remember what I said as my memory is short, but whatever it was, Jerry didn’t hear). His hearing is not like it used to be. At one time, when we were younger, I could whisper to my son something like, “Don’t tell your dad, but we have ice cream in the freezer.” Jerry, far from earshot in another room, would call out, “Ice cream! What flavor?” read more