by Marlene Bumgarner | Jan 31, 2024 | Aging, Family, Gardening, Health, Nature
An Early Start Good morning! I’m writing at 7:00 a.m. today after checking in with my online writing group and taking Kismet out for the first of our walks of the day. Shafts of yellow light creep through my Venetian blinds, urging me to wake up and experience...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Aug 16, 2020 | Health, Nature
Morning Each morn I soak my bones. Steaming water soothes the pain. Watch the sun break through the clouds. Hear the birds proclaim the dawn. I concentrate on my breath. A tiny cloud Drifts out to sea. I concentrate on my breath and wonder...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Feb 3, 2020 | Child development, Family, Grandparenting, Nature, Travel
On The Road With Sheila My friend Quincy asked me to write about my early adventures on the road in my new motor home so here goes. My first excursion in Sheila was from Beach Cities RV in southern California to my home in Santa Cruz. I have nothing to say about that...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Oct 13, 2019 | Aging, Child development, Cooking and Eating, Family, Grandparenting, Nature
The Pumpkin Patch Adventure This was the week Bean and I made our annual pilgrimage to her favorite pumpkin patch. We’ve been doing this together since she was three years old and now she’s eight and knows the routine quite well. “I’ll start...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Apr 11, 2019 | Aging, Family, Grandparenting, Nature, Travel
My Cure for Wanderlust Each winter I hunker down, read, write, and watch a lot of British mysteries. During my hybernation, I tell myself I’ll be content to stay inside my little house for ever. But then the sun comes out, the crocuses and daffodils begin to flower,...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Mar 1, 2019 | Back to the Land, Community, Cooking and Eating, Family, Nature
PART ONE — MOVING TO THE LAND Introduction It was November 1973 and my my mother-in-law wasn’t speaking to me. Again. My husband, John, I and our 11-month-old daughter Doña Ana were living in a basement room in his parents’ home at Lick Observatory on Mount...