Since the pandemic, I have been obsessed with jigsaw puzzles, preferably 1,000 piece ones. It’s my escape from worries of the spread of the virus, the upcoming election and the general mess that 2020 has brought. I start each puzzle the same way – sort out pieces by color then take the edges and build
I was recently a guest on The Happy Healthy Caregiver podcast with show host, Elizabeth Miller. We talk about how I navigated the caregiving years I had with Perry and what life has been like for me after my caregiving responsibilities ended. I talk about how I tried to maintain my self-identity and self-care
I find it hard to concentrate or do any serious writing during this pandemic period. I can’t stop watching the news, knowing that it adds to my anxiety but I can’t seem to turn off the TV or social media. I can’t do many things that used to give me a sense of calm –
I encountered this lovely starfish on one of my walks at the beach back in early February. It was low tide when took this picture, but the surf line was still a good ten or fifteen yards away from this pool of water. I feared for the starfish and its chances of survival. What
Over the holidays, the boys and I spent a few days in Berkeley to extend our visit with family. I rented a house in North Berkeley, near the tunnel that leads to Solano Avenue. It was an area we drove through often when I was in graduate school and Perry was in law school in
My summer was filled with momentous events – a trip to Russia, a keynote speech at the Well Spouse Association in Las Vegas and a visit to Seattle where my book was a finalist for the Nancy Pearl Book Award for Best Memoir. But one of my favorite activities was (and still is) walking
I bought these hiking boots in February in anticipation of my hike on the Camino de Santiago trail in late April. For two months, I wore them every day, to the grocery store, on neighborhood walks and on conditioning hikes at Will Rogers State Park. I experimented with socks with different thicknesses to find the
I spent a week in Tuscany at a writer’s retreat with this lovely view from my bedroom window. I arrived after a whirlwind of travel and sightseeing: hiking the Camino de Santiago trail in Spain, visiting quaint Dutch towns in the Netherlands, and exploring Renaissance art in Florence. I was scattered in thought and feeling
I hiked sections of the Camino de Santiago trail in Spain in late April, setting off from Bilbao and working westward on the Camino del Norte, Camino Primitivo and Camino Frances trails to Santiago de Compostela. I didn’t do the full pilgrimage of staying in albuerges or hostels, getting a pilgrim passport stamped at each
In 2001, we tore down our freestanding garage and built a new one with a bonus room on the second story. Our boys were teenagers then and our 1,100 square foot home felt too tiny, bursting with books and toys and sports equipment. It took months to find an architect, agree on materials for
