The crunch of footsteps schlepping through snow alerted me to the UPS delivery. I did a mental run down of my recent buying habits and, nope, I couldn’t come up with any expected deliveries. Huh. The box, left like a Trojan horse just outside the door, beckoned. It was rectangular and smallish, but filled with possibilities. I brought it in,… Read More

I slid the container of pet odor/urine remover across the counter. The cashier, a woman about my age, looked at the product and then me. “Oh oh. This can’t be good.” I sighed with the weight and frustration that comes with needing to buy urine remover. “We have a cat with issues.” The cashier nodded in a knowing way. “I… Read More

If it is possible to smoosh my boobs more tightly, contort my upper body more painfully, and endure the unrealistic command to “relax,” I cannot imagine it. Reluctantly I agreed to have a mammogram lately, and my breasts still hurt. So does my faith in our traditional medical system. I’m one of these rebellious women who question the health benefits… Read More

Noooo! I had minutes to run my errands because the repair man was due at our house…sometime. Don’t you just hate those days where you are held hostage? The repair person will be there sometime between Nov. and 2016. Well, that’s how it feels anyway. I had about thirty minutes to get into town, complete my tasks, and get back… Read More

Okay, let me say upfront that I do not consider myself a persnickety woman. When my husband and I travel I ask for two things…a motel/hotel/B&B that is clean, and that is safe. That’s not too much is it? Clean and safe! If my sweetie really wants to make me happy the accommodations will have a private bathroom that includes… Read More

“What did she do?” became the hue and cry of a nation of jurors, judges, and conditioned critics. Ms. Zellweger, in case you haven’t heard, made a recent public appearance and was deemed almost unrecognizable. Some folks are sure she’s has plastic surgery, and others say maybe, maybe not, but either way so what? I’m in the last group. Whatever… Read More

Lizards, snakes, turtles, spiders. Pet material? For some yes, and for others a big and hearty “NO!” My own preferences run toward animals with fur, purring or barking or whinnying potential, and with mainstream interactive capabilities. And yet I completely understand the sudden and inexplicable bond that forms between creatures of differing realms. It’s not for me to judge those… Read More

…my floors, walls, and other areas. I apologize if the title inferred this would be a piece that contained juicy gossip. Frankly, I don’t know that many ne’er-do-well’s, and certainly not anyone that is so naughty as to titillate the masses. (Why does the word titillate sound titillating? I always feel like it’s a word to be whispered and then… Read More

There’s a fire starting in my heart Reaching a fever pitch, it’s bringing me out the dark Finally I can see you crystal clear Go ‘head and sell me out and I’ll lay your shit bare See how I leave with every piece of you Don’t underestimate the things that I will do… Thus starts the opening lyrics of Adele’s… Read More

I counted seven smushed snakes on the road this morning. They seemed at peace. Flat, but at peace. Since snakes are one of my animal spirits I wondered if seeing that many deceased bodies was a bad omen, or if the Universe was trying to tell me to get going before it is too late for me as well. When… Read More

Chaste. According to the dictionary it means: Abstaining from sex Sexually faithful Pure in thought and deed Plain I’m not sure about the plain part. Perhaps the thinking is the person is so unattractive they aren’t likely to get any. Chaste has always meant, to me, being sexually inactive. Which brings to mind a story about my husband… At the… Read More

I subscribe to an e-letter from Noah Kagan called OkDork. He sends out offers for discounted apps that can possibly make life easier, or at least your work easier if you are a techie. I’m not sure I even want to be a techie as I’m ok with limping along on my feeble old-school skills, but I like to window-shop… Read More

“Gail, go out and fetch the mail. I’m getting to old to do all that running around.” As a kid I used to feel irritated with that line of thinking. It seemed to me that the adults in my life had plenty of energy to do the things they wanted to do, but ran out when it was something that… Read More

“Mom,” said my daughter during a static-riddled phone call, “I believe you have your State Fair facts wrong. Iowa has the number one rated fair.” “Mmmmm, I don’t think so,” I said. “The ranking, depending on who is doing the rating, is something like Texas, Minnesota, and then Iowa.” “Nuh uh. Iowa is #1.” Poor, misguided child. I was ready… Read More

Have you ever watched a movie where the hero dangles from a cliff by the wispiest of branches protruding from a rock? The longer he swings and kicks and tightens his grip, the quicker the twig disintegrates. The hero is terrified of what is below and refuses to trust that his buddies have pulled a wagon of fluffy hay beneath… Read More

One: Santa Fe has these funky low curbs that (sometimes) divide lanes on the roads. When we arrived, in a rental car, near midnight, my husband became an expert at slamming on the brakes when I’d yell, “Curb!” At first he thought I was yelling “Herb!” but since we don’t know anyone down there named Herb, he realized “Curb” was… Read More

It’s county fair time! In honor of the event I’m blogging about a dear friend of mine who happens to be a winner in all areas of life. A Winsome Woman A woman’s competitive nature blossoms into blue ribbons at a local county fair. It was only 7 a.m., but already a dozen cars were parked haphazardly along the muddy… Read More

“This is the problem where we all get caught; we view photographs and make them with our agendas, personal histories, stereotypes and biases.” -Shelby Lee Adams Berthie Napier looks into the camera lens and a silent story unfolds. Those eyes! Trying not to gaze into them is impossible. Velvet steel, defiant, measuring. Her arthritic knuckles cradle a carved pipe like… Read More

Although science learns something new everyday, no one denies hormones play a pivotal role in the menopausal transition. And, because of that, the menopausal experience is as individual as the women undergoing the changes. The debate between using hormone replacements or not is unending, as is the controversy between synthetic and bioidentical. For the purposes of tonight’s rather short blog,… Read More

Do you remember the first time a fresh-faced high school kid at the grocery store asked if you wanted paper or plastic, Ma’am? I do, and I was a little shocked. Ma’am? Me? That’s my mom or my grandma! Well, menopause is a bit like that too. In some ways it sneaks up on you and the world seems to… Read More

In honor of Memorial Day, it seemed fitting to share a sunny afternoon, a long overdue conversation, and a bouquet of red carnations with the man who shaped so many of my beliefs and characteristics. My dad, a man of: Strict faith, sly humor, compact build, and more than his fair share of quirks. Most of those idiosyncrasies were endearing… Read More

“Once I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: “No good in a bed, but fine up against a wall.” ― Eleanor Roosevelt For years I was baffled and somewhat bored when a celebrity was asked whom he or she would have liked to… Read More

Sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse. Genocide. Take you pick on any and all of the afore-mentioned issues you didn’t learn in your American History class as it pertains to Native Americans and Manifest Destiny. As a person of middle-aged status, it disturbs me to discover how often writers of history distorted lessons learned in childhood. In our youth we… Read More

A few years ago: Sleek, sweaty, thoroughbreds headed into the final stretch of the Kentucky Derby. The dirt-coated jockeys and horses were tightly clumped in a running pack, and positions were changing faster than women wearing thong underwear at an all day lecture. I bounced on the couch, clapped at the television, and willed my favored horse to go faster…. Read More

He sat forward, reading a slightly crumpled piece of paper. I noticed him less for the suit and tie and more for the way his lips moved silently with the rhythm of the words scrawled in longhand. Was it a “Dear John” letter? Was it bad news of some sort? The way his brow formed worry lines made me believe… Read More

As a woman approaches menopause, her body starts a natural transition in preparation for the upcoming changes. Unlike our mothers or grandmothers, women today often start peri-menopause when they are in their 30’s and can have symptoms until their 50’s. (Waterhouse 1998). Interestingly, in the early 1900’s a woman’s life expectancy was between 45-55 years old. Now it is estimated… Read More

On the day of my appointment I explained, upfront, that I was treatment conservative, that I wanted to have an active role in my health, and that I wanted to know about any complementary or alternative treatments available as well. After my wishes were made known, the first words out of her mouth were, “You are not planning on having… Read More

“If I manage to learn something new, I glow with a pleasure that life seldom gave me in youth, when I took all of this for granted. There is nothing like old age to make one aware of the marvels of the human body and mind.” –Mary C. Morrison Bioidentical Hormones and Me By Gail Gates Life has a way… Read More