Category: Uncategorized

A small, unnamed alley comes to an end on the other side of our backyard fence. Don and Karen live in the second house south of our fence on the west side of the alley, a pleasant ranch house with an inviting front porch.  On the side of their house closest to us, just inside…
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The oak leaves are dried and curled.  They float along sedately without, as far as I know, any purpose or any destination other than wherever the canal will take them.  They obey only the laws of gravity and physics. Their passage seems peaceful, unhurried, until they come to the little weir where they are pulled…
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By three in the afternoon it’s too hot to do anything but sit directly in front of the fan.  My brain is sluggish, but I’ve signed up for a creative writing class that starts next Thursday, and I thought I ought to start getting warmed (!) up by writing a daily journal.  We don’t have…
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It’s a week before my 73rd birthday.  I’ve been thinking about aging, and about the impact of moving from Palo Alto to Hartwick at 69, from Hartwick to Pleasant Hill at 72, and then Pleasant Hill to Cooperstown at 75.  I think these moves are good for me in a lot of ways.  Moving from…
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We’ve been in the house for a week. I still have five boxes to unpack and far too many clothes in suitcases and bins. But the all the rooms are functional and the floor is pretty clear except in the guest room. Jay was home last week, which made a huge difference in getting some…
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I hear voices.  I’m not losing my mind, there are just a lot of voices to hear.  On our lovely trail Charlie and I often pass people chatting, or we encounter someone alone but talking animatedly (and loudly) into what I hope is a cell phone.  Passing by the houses on our street I hear…
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We left our wonderful home in Hartwick just over a month ago on 6/11.  It was surprisingly not hard to leave, much as I loved that home.  I think that over the years I’ve made some progress on not becoming overly attached to things.  We had a wonderful run on our beautiful Sunnyhill, and there…
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The sale of Sunnyhill should close on 6/11, two weeks from today.  If things go as planned we’ll be at the closing in Oneonta in the morning and hit the road in the afternoon, going only as far as Erie, PA that first day.  Since it will be our first day on the road with…
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I’ve written so little this year, even with plenty of Covid imposed time on my hands. But in the last few months so much has happened that I want to record. As our fourth winter here was winding down and our plans to move to California for two years were taking shape, we came to…
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Here on Sunnyhill life is in full swing. I’ve seen 16 goslings poking their tender little heads above the grass. I should make a sign for our driveway – Slow, goose crossing. The grass on either side of the driveway is shorter, so the geese often congregate there. Most of the time we’re able to…
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