Monthly Archives: July 2014

Today the sun shone down on the pacific coast of Southern California. My best friend from high school, J, picked me up from my hotel, and we made the trek from Burbank to Malibu under beautiful, clear blues skies. When we crested the mountain top, he rolled the windows down so I could inhale the intoxicating aroma of salt water, warm sand, and Coppertone. God love him; that man does know the way to my heart, but before you get any ideas, he’s not one bit interested in that same heart, at least not in the way you think.

We spent the day driving the Pacific Coast Highway laughing at the proximity of the “recovery centers” cheek-by jowl with the liquor stores, and fantasizing at living on the ocean, separately, of course, someday. It’s nice to dream. The ocean couldn’t have been more azure had it been computer-enhanced, and in this town that’s a real possibility. The warm sand beneath my feet, the cold water rushing up my legs, splashing onto my calves and then my thighs left me delighted, and, dare I say it, feeling free. Free to be just me, just a child in the presence of God the Creator and this man, J, whom I’ve known more than half my life. And I was happy. Do you know how long it’s been since I’ve been truly happy? In all honesty, I don’t remember. Continue reading →

I’ve heard “fear” defined as simply “the absence of love.” So, I started thinking about all the things for which my heart must be empty. Get ready ’cause here comes the list (in no particular order, and I reserve the right to edit it at any point): Continue reading →

My Fourth of July weekend was spent the old-fashioned way: family, barbecues, swimming, listening to the tinkling (or distressing, depends on how you take it) sounds of children shrieking, and staying inside during the fireworks so as not to end up the inadvertent victim of one of the bullets that people in the Southwest are so fond of firing up into the night sky along with their fireworks.  All in all, it was a good time.

At one point I was relaxing in the hot tub, when my brother’s neighbor’s 6 year-old son (you still with me?) with whom I had had a relatively long and detailed conversation earlier in the day about the positive traits of strawberries, climbed in the hot tub, filled his little mouth with water, paddled over to me, put his face right up to my cheek and opened his mouth.  Chlorinated water and spit drained down my face.  Huh. Continue reading →