A Week in the Life

My sisters and my daughter, Emmy and I took my mom out for dinner for her 90th birthday. So much to celebrate with all of them.

I found gratitude slips I had made in 2017 and incorporated them into my collage art. 2017 was the year my dad passed away, so it was particularly touching to read about my gratitudes that year. 

On one of my morning walks I saw a heron eating a frog. I’ve seen so many beautiful trees changing color and reflections of clouds in the water. 

7-11 cups along a fence where a new house is being built. A little doggy rain booty abandoned on the sidewalk 

I discovered Andrea Gibson’s poetry after hearing about the movie Tig Notaro made about Andrea’s dying from cancer. I was blown away. Oh my gosh, especially the poem, America Reloading. That brought a lot of tears. 

I walked out to Tennessee Valley Beach and found a small heart-shaped stone embedded in a piece of Styrofoam that had been in the water for a while. Watched the sunrise along the cliff, spent time journaling and staring at the waves. There was a gorgeous fallen eucalyptus tree. 

Went for another walk in Fernwood Cemetery, and found where one of my favorite teachers, Mrs. Cooper, my sixth grade teacher, was buried. From there I had a beautiful view of my elementary school, one I hadn’t seen before. 

Lisa, a close friend of the family, came for a visit. She came to my mom’s surprise party, but we had not seen her in probably 10 years before then. Lisa’s mom, Agnes, and my mom went to nursing school together in Indiana 70 years ago, then moved out to California with 2 other friends. It was wonderful to have time together. 

I hiked a beautiful loop trail around King Mountain in Larkspur. There were lots of stairs at one point. I could hear the church bells from St. Hilary’s ringing out. 

I did more collaging and created nests from different materials I had. 

Javi and I got out for a walk. I picked up my wine from the winery I belong to in Sonoma, love the beautiful grapevines changing colors. After I stopped at the Sonoma Community Center to see life-size elephants made from an invasive material that is destroying the food that they need to survive. An artist made these elephants and is putting them up around the world to raise awareness about the issue. They were just gorgeous. 

Finally I helped my mom choose a new Medicare Advantage plan since the one that she has is going out of business at the end of the year. I wish we all had a health plan with $0 premiums, $0 copay for primary care and specialists, all medications covered and a total out of pocket maximum of less than $1,000!

I was listening to a podcast about restorative justice and wondered ‘What about restorative justice for financial and white collar crimes?’ What if those robber barons sit down with some of their victims? For some there could be thousands! After having spent time really looking at the impact of their actions, what would they do? What about all the other people involved in  the systems that enable those kinds of crime? It seems to me they often have much broader impacts on society than someone who has committed a ‘blue-collar’ crime.