This week Sunday Stealing , hosted by Bev Sykes, has participants musing over questions taken from Upstream Life . 1. Name 5 people you admire and why. • Daddy. Family was important for him. He took his responsibilities seriously. He made sure his children got the opportunities for a good life. • Mama was resolute, stoical, full of love and cheeriness, but oh so sad. Also full of spirit, spit, and vinegar, Mama didn't let her misery keep her down. She had more than her share, including living through war and losing two children.  • The Husband. My gosh. I'm not an easy person to live with. • Winifred, my mentor, my writing partner, my friend. She took a chance on me (#6). Winifred was an amazing, gifted, and giving person who taught me how to develop and create educational materials that respect and teach the learners. • Kathy, a friend from grammar school days. I love her humor, her wit, her intelligence. For years, she went back and forth, several times a year to visit her pa

1. Apricot cutter.  My first job. I was ten and I lasted three whole days before I got sick. When I got well, Mama and Daddy said I didn't have to go back. So, I didn't. 2. Babysitter. Once, I couldn't find a kid when we played hide-and-seek because he shimmied up a tree. That seven-year-old taught me to look up. 3. Newspaper columnist. I was paid 10 cents an inch to write a weekly high school column for the hometown newspaper. Even got a byline. A friend and I started the Baling Wire in our sophomore year,  and I went solo from the last half of my junior year to high school graduation. 4. Tutor. I took both paid and volunteer positions, mostly the latter. 5. Hand Pollinator. Every summer, Mama hired teenagers to hand pollinate cabbage, zucchini, cucumbers, pumpkins, corn, and other vegetables for her seed company. She finally hired me the year I graduated from high school. I actually liked the work. 6. Office Clerk.  I had several part-time jobs while goin

Jars of Salsa Ding! Ding! of the Triangle Umbel Flowers Garlic! Laughs Fronds Blasts of the Past Molly Pictures Oak Trees Window Panes Hikes with Friends Wispy Angels on High Today's memes to check out: ABC Wednesday and Thirteen Thursday . Good cheer, One and All!

coffee.   This morning the Husband and I shared a chocolate old-fashioned doughnut to enjoy with our cups of black coffee. Happy smiles all around. Cable.  I want us to get rid of our cable subscription. The Husband agrees it's too expensive for the few channels we watch. Will we? you ask. We will, I'm sure we will. The bigger question: When will we? Procrastinators are us. ceramics.  When I was 19, my big dream was to own a bookstore with a ceramics workshop in the back.  Cute.  The Husband says I'm cute. I tell him it's because he loves me. He says, "It's because you are cute." chicken.  There are times when I think our representatives at the local, state, or national level of government are too chicken to make a stand one way or the other. Bwak, bwak cooking.   I do that once a day, at least, most days. I like when it's a some day. Coast-co.  "We're going to Costco," I would say to Mama. "Where?" she w

I came across a fun meme today. It's called Sunday Stealing hosted by Bev Sykes of Funny the World. Every Sunday she posts a bunch of thoughtful questions that she has "stolen" from elsewhere for participants to answer. Who doesn't like to answer questions, especially about themselves? Intrigued? Check out Sunday Stealing here , after checking my answers, of course.    1. The strangest place you've ever been. The strangest place I've ever been is a thinker. Shall I consider a place itself as being strange or a place where I encountered something weird? Better yet, the unfamiliar concept of being in a certain place, and it still feels unfamiliar (thankfully) after I leave that location? My answer. . . Thummm tha tha tha Thaaaaaaaa! . . .the hospital last year. From the moment I entered that hospital near dawn to the moment I stepped out the door the following afternoon was surreal. My gosh! 2. Unusual food combinations you enjoy. Pancakes, syrup,

Two Fridays ago, the Husband created an Xmas tree out of Xmas lights. All I had to do was find the lights and point out the spot for him to make it. Sparkle, sparkle. The other day I was helping undecorate a small Christmas tree at the local museum where I volunteer. I started to unwind a garland made of small colored glass balls when Head Volunteer said, "Susie, take the tinsel off first." She proceeded to quickly pluck and pull the silvery strands. I imitated her. The tinsel off, I went for the garland. Said Head Volunteer, "Susie, it'll be easier if you take ornaments off then the garland." Okey-dokey. As I finally unwound the garland, Head Volunteer reminded me that it was old, then kindly remarked that she had already broken three vintage decorations. Sometimes I can be like that bull in a china shop. Several hours later while reading Christmas posts by blogger friends, I realized that I'm out of practice when it comes to decorating/undecoratin

Hi ya! Hey ya! Hope all's well with ya. All is well with us. I'm still playing catch up so I'm back to reaching into my archives for a while more. Have fun out there. Today's post (edited) was first published on April 11, 2015. = = = = = = = = = = = = = Knock, knock. The Mama opened the kitchen door, which was the back door at our house on 44 Shore Road.  I sat at the kitchen table, keeping her company as she prepared dinner. Uncle Frank! The Daddy's younger brother. He carried a tree stump in his arms.  "I cut down a tree in my back yard," said Uncle Frank, putting it down next to the kitchen counter. "I thought it was the right size for Susie." I was four. Either Uncle Frank or the Mama held my hand as I climbed onto the stump. Yaaay! I had a wonderful view of the counter. I don't remember much of those very early years. But, I must've been in the kitchen a lot with the Mama. Enough so that Uncle Frank thought I o

Minutes before three o'clock in the morning, I ran along the train platform towards an open door. My host ran beside me. "Have fun," he said. "Come back with no money." I hoisted myself up the train steps.  "Boungiorno," I said to the waiting conductor, then turned and thanked my host. "I'll see you tonight." "I'll be here." he said. "Don't worry about a thing." The train to Firenze started. I began my unsteady walk through the darkly lit train in search of a place to sit. For the first time in many years, I was alone traveling in an unfamiliar place.

He trudged along like a ghost in mourning. Paula sighed as she pulled back from her living room window. Curtis Warren, her middle-school English teacher from decades ago, had lost his wife to a drunk driver less than a year ago.  Paula heard that his family was concerned he would take his life. She knew the feeling. When her husband died from cancer five years go, Paula became a vagabond. She came back home a few months ago to be with her dad in his last days. She didn't know how much longer she would stay.  "Oh, no!" Paula rushed out her front door and down to the sidewalk where Curtis lay sprawled. She helped him up and held onto him until he was steady on his feet. "My mind was thinking of other things," the 70-year old man said. His voice rough as if he hadn't spoken in a long time. "It happens," said Paula. "Come up to my porch, Mr. Warren, and sit for a while. I have fresh lemonade." "No, no," he said, shakin

“Panties!” the middle-aged woman exclaimed, working her way against the stream of incoming buyers and gawkers. A couple stepped aside when she grumbled, “No respect at all!” The petite woman carefully placed her estate sale purchases in the back of her prized green 1957 Chevrolet truck. She flipped open a velvet blue lace fan and cooled herself. She wondered who in her right mind would want to buy a dead lady’s panties. “Hey Midge!” shouted her friend who called herself Lara today. Midge strode over to pick up the bags and baskets beside Lara. “Lots of great stuff,” Lara said. “Did you see that Whitman copy of Spin and Marty?” “I would've bought it, if it wasn't falling apart,” said Midge. Lara nodded. “They should’ve just dumped it. Quite a lot of stuff they should’ve burned or taken to the dump.” “No kidding,” said Midge. “They were even selling. . .” “You’ll never guess what I bought!” Lara said at the same time. “Panties!" “Panties!” “What?” “W

First Meeting by Su- sieee ! Mac Lianne and Brian tumbled to the sand, their legs tangling together. Two barking Saint Bernard puppies rushed up and climbed all over them. “Off, Pooch! Get off!” Lianne and Brian said at the same time in the same stern voice. Neither of the puppies obeyed.  “I give up!” Lianne laughed and tried to cover her face from an exuberant dog’s tongue. “You can’t give up!” Brian said between laughs. “Stop that Pooch!” “Look after your own dog,” said Lianne, managing to get a hold of her dog. “That’s what I am,” Brian said, holding his puppy to his chest.  “Your dog's name is Pooch?’”  “Yup.” “Copy cat.” “Pooch?” He nodded to Lianne’s pup.  “You bet.”  Brian grinned. “I’m in the midst of a genius.” “Or mediocrity,” said Lianne, grinning back. "What have we here?" Lianne gazed up at a tall woman who looked like she stepped out of a fashion magazine. "Honey," said Brian, his legs still entwined with Li

I Want Her by  Su- sieee! Mac   "Mom, you're not going to ride the back roads, are you?" "Hmmm," the grey-haired woman said. "Mom!" said her son on the phone. "It's dangerous riding alone out there. Remember last year when that runner died...." "Son, you're channeling your grandmother." She laughed. "I'll be fine. I'm not riding anywhere new. And, I've got the phone." "Mom, please just ride around your neighborhood." I can feel her coming. Leave it alone. Mike's already married. She's the one I want. The woman pedaled along the shoulder of the two-lane highway. She almost heeded her son's fears. Silly. Nothing happened at all to her on the back roads. But, the highway was getting her nervous. She was riding later than usual, which meant more cars on the highway as she headed homeward. Were the big rigs speeding by faster than usual? She scooted further to t

Setting: On a late Spring Friday afternoon, two 12-year old cousins are standing on the BART train platform in El Cerrito, a small city across the bay from San Francisco.   “The pony-tail lady in jeans and pink sweater," I said to my cousin who was a few months older than me. Whenever we’re in a public place, Sydney and I like to play a game of guessing what people are. “A dancer. Maybe a ballerina,” Twelve-year old Sydney said, gazing down the BART train platform. "See the old man with the silver cane behind her." “A retired guy from the government.” “The girl in overalls with a brown leather backpack.”  “Easy. College student, probably UC Berkeley." Sydney lowered her voice and said, "I've got one for you, Jeannie. The tall guy with the bald head and the blond ponytail." “Where?” “Behind you.” I squatted down and pretended to tie my shoe as I glanced at the man wearing a grayish-green raincoat, the belt hanging to the ground. He

Don't Slam the Door! by Su- sieee! Mac S-L-A-M !!   “ALESSA!”   “I’m sorry, Ma,” said the tiny young girl. “I forgot.”   “One of these days, Alessa, something terribly awful will happen when you slam that door,” said her mom.   “Yes, Mom,” Alessa said, thinking that was just too silly of an idea. Still, it did frighten Alessa a little and she stopped slamming the door.  Then, one day she forgot. S-L-A-M !! The building shook. Things tumbled off the shelves and walls. The trees and the houses rocked and rolled. The bridges collapsed. The roads crumbled. The cities fell apart. The water in the bay shook.   The mountain tops blew off.   All over the world, the crusts moved and shook and sunk and rose. The earth spun off its wobble. It bumped into the moon, next into Mars, and then into Jupiter. Earth bounced back towards the sun, sucking up all the other planets of the solar system. The sun and all the planets exploded and swirled into a swirl, swirling, swir

Ago  ( Ah-go ) watched the water slowly run towards the end of the bittermelon row. When he was finished watering all the rows, maybe he would drive to the Senior Center for lunch. The food was okay. The best part was talking with his friends. Someone was bound to ask him about Song. "Have you heard from her?" "Where is she now?" Although it has been weeks since she left,  a few of his compadres still shook their heads in disbelief that his single daughter was criss-crossing the United States in her small yellow car. Young, unmarried women don't do that, according to them. Not  in the Philippines. Not even in the United States. "Times are different," one friend, usually Danny or Pablo, said. "Song is tough and level-headed. She can handle trouble." Level-headed, yes, thought Ago, pulling up a weed between the vegetable rows. Tough? Her mother, the Old Lady, thought Song was tough because she talked back. He didn't see it that way.