tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49444142765227364122026-10-10T12:25:32.952-06:00<i>A down-to-earth kind of gal, Auntie Eartha adds spirit to the mundane and tells it as she sees it. With a raw sense of humor, she turns routine into adventure, pet peeves into passions, and strikes home with her words. She doesn’t suffer misspellings, bad grammar, misplaced punctuation, inconsistency, or stupidity well, though she admits to making her share of mistakes.</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger224125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-54840996734476070622019-02-19T19:38:00.001-07:002019-02-19T19:40:37.237-07:00

I think it was on his birthday, but my spirit sister, Carrie, called to wish her former, lonely beau if he’d like to go out and grab a bite to eat—her treat, since he usually picked up the tab. Although he wasn’t sure he wanted to go out, being a reclusive type, David welcomed hearing Carrie’s voice, ’cause it had been months, maybe a year, since they’d last spoken—he’d worn her patience matzo

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-30170801109815035642019-01-17T15:49:00.001-07:002024-11-04T12:34:30.139-07:00

Statistics are reported weekly about poverty levels around the world. In my little world, from late 2008 through early 2013 my household reported at 99 percent po’. On October 15, 2013, NPR* featured a land of long-term poverty—Appalachia. The story, however, didn’t focus on lack of income.&nbsp; A bed of a cappella gospel music comforted like a thick, luxuriant blanket beneath reporter

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-4568069326843864442019-01-17T14:04:00.002-07:002019-01-17T14:06:59.027-07:00

Flying low on a two-lane highway that connects a succession of small farming towns, I looked up from reading CD covers in the passenger seat, saw 25 mph, and heard, “Crap!” Oh geez. The sheriff approached my new husband’s car from behind as Tom rolled down his window.&nbsp; “You were goin’ a little fast there,” the sheriff observed. “What brings yeh tö MinnesOta?” he asked, brandishing

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-35593542044607907682014-07-02T16:44:00.000-06:002014-07-02T16:44:16.491-06:00

A gal I work for bought all of her employees and me, her dutiful editor, Fitbits. I’d never heard of the product before she mentioned it, so as Ellen was enthusiastically describing the wristband device, she directed me to the Fitbit site. She said it daily monitored the wearer’s steps, the amount of time engaged in exercise, and sleep patterns. The sleep monitoring feature hooked me, since

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-543403599842022512014-05-26T16:46:00.000-06:002014-05-26T17:52:44.952-06:00

I can't believe it happened again. Soggy clean tissue pieces clung to my freshly washed clothes. Although he didn’t seem to be present, I knew Michael was still here, because he always leaves tissues in his pockets. Years ago I fell deeply, obsessively, insanely in love with a guy called Michael, Mr. GQ, tall, dark, and handy. It was dreadful. I would have been better off falling out of an

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-54833411408582456602014-04-07T19:57:00.000-06:002014-08-18T19:37:05.448-06:00

Sent from Michael Lowery: I awoke early, as usual, and was searching for the perfect word for the experience of yesterday, some word that would describe the experience without venturing too far from the truth, a descriptive that would be unassailable by those of the literary mind. Every possibility failed the context test. Finally I invented a new word: Transluminous. It was simply

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-37537689615400860202014-02-10T16:48:00.001-07:002014-04-07T20:00:39.700-06:00

A friend and I have gotten together most Friday afternoons since 1985 to solve the problems of the universe. Although we haven't had a high rate of success in that endeavor, we've enjoyed a lot of fun on our journey. One lovely June day when sunlight streamed through the large living room window, we were feeling quite ethereal with spirits easily emanating past the confines of the house.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-91559892813672350792014-02-10T14:31:00.000-07:002014-04-17T17:45:02.689-06:00

After being robbed or violated in some way, I’ve wondered Why me? and Why do people steal? Another incidence happened to me in November, so here I am taking my inventory, wondering if I provided fertile ground for theft and why a person would choose to become a thief. Some thoughts: The thief is broke, impulsive, mentally challenged, unprincipled. He’s not resourceful and doesn’t believe he can

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-2867788065575275742014-01-15T16:35:00.000-07:002014-04-02T21:32:04.054-06:00

Twenty years ago I wrote in my holiday newsletter, “I’ve decided that 35 is the age of the unwanted hair.” You know what I mean, and it’s not just a dark-haired female matter. How many guys say, “I’m growing hair where I don’t want it and losing hair where I want to keep it.” Aging bodies. Wha’cha gonna do? Another thing I wrote in that newsletter was, “Declining vision makes us more attractive

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-39568424002671792822014-01-08T18:28:00.001-07:002014-04-02T21:32:38.405-06:00

Until you spiritually embody and are in the energy field of another’s disease or disorder, you don’t fully comprehend the impact your own frailties can have on others. Disorders of the mind are the most tricky and, as we read in the news, the most devastating. Who today seems normal, even if a bit troubled, may become inconsolable, incapacitated, or evil the next, sometimes without their own

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-62432396310116981972013-10-20T14:46:00.002-06:002013-10-20T14:46:57.380-06:00

I haven't made love in so long, I forgot who ties up whom.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-9084862333413442622013-03-20T21:22:00.001-06:002013-03-20T21:22:59.046-06:00

In November 2003, a friend offered to buy my 10-year-old daughter a real, live dog for Christmas, versus the stuffed variety or a cat that only requires an occasional hot fluff cycle in the dryer. I’m certain the idea was mine, because I’m female, emotional, and, therefore, don’t thoroughly think through things. Owning that, I believe children need to be raised with pets, particularly a dog,

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-62990763889208116742013-02-27T11:49:00.000-07:002013-02-27T11:49:56.641-07:00

My daughter means everything to me, and I am voting for Jim Bensberg. Though that might sound like a non sequitur, I will explain why it is not. In 1997 when Jim was working for U.S. Senator Wayne Allard, my daughter, age four at the time, was court ordered to visit opprobrious people, two biologically related, two not. Even now when she returns to Colorado from college, more events surface that

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-75419031686385680452013-02-06T15:21:00.004-07:002013-02-06T17:22:09.832-07:00

My last post stimulated the imagination of one reader to such an extent, he couldn’t contain himself. So he sent me an email and said he wished I’d have extrapolated more on condom modifications, and since I didn’t, he did. Building on his momentum, apparent expertise, and discretion-challenged ways of expression, I toned down and added to his new business plan. Being a man of age and

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-84684959799807974092013-02-05T19:58:00.000-07:002014-08-21T13:39:19.676-06:00

At my age, reading the fine print is more than difficult—it’s sometimes impossible, particularly poring over the ingredients of skin care products. You know the kind: antiaging, antiwrinkle, antibagging, antifart-producing, anticlogging (noncomedogenic), anti-belly-fat-producing creamy stuff, the kind of stuff most guys don’t give a crap about. I want to look as young as my mind says I am, and at

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-78164120606184910532013-02-02T21:34:00.000-07:002013-02-02T21:34:50.814-07:00

Recently as I did the laundry I found something that brought back a sweet memory. In a whoosh moment, it transported me back to early December 2012 after the deep, navy-blue clouds of November had parted. Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday, had passed, thank god, because for three years I’d spent it alone, and the one in 2010 devastated me to such a point, I almost died. But I tripped and stumbled

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-29478155034479717642013-01-07T19:43:00.000-07:002013-01-07T19:43:13.153-07:00

Soon after Anita and I sat down at church, I said, “I’m hungry.” She looked toward the front of the church where the large table sits, nodded, and whispered, “Don’t worry. Communion.”

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-51498931172370578522013-01-05T16:59:00.000-07:002013-01-05T16:59:43.193-07:00

“It’s a small world until an airline loses you luggage.” LAWestin, Jan. 3, 2013 “You don’t realize how much you need something until TSA ruins it.” LAWestin, Jan. 3, 2013 “There’s a correlation between shampooing the carpet one day and either the dog vomiting, the cat emptying his bowels, or a friend spilling a glass of red wine on it the next.” LAWestin, Dec. 15, 2012 If there isn’t one

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-3236342504378203492012-12-18T10:47:00.000-07:002012-12-19T09:48:21.325-07:00

Glenn, a dear friend of 30 years, has a daughter, Sandra, who needs a new kidney. Another friend of 30 years, married Glenn's son, and they now have three daughters, all beautiful in spirit and intention. Please take a minute and a half to view the gift they gave their Aunt Sandra for the holidays, then please forward this request to everyone you know. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-58407544517271033872012-10-25T16:22:00.000-06:002012-11-11T14:44:21.170-07:00

At fifty-something, manless, and poorer than a millionaire next door pretends to be, I tighten my muscles and tackle most big jobs myself. In the two years past, I’ve had to buy new batteries for my drill, a pump for my hot tub, a new bathtub and surround, roof, windows, manpower, and crack fillers of many kinds—evidence of a writer with too much time on her hands. My neighbor loaned me Home

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-13049728966535953002012-10-16T16:31:00.000-06:002012-10-16T16:57:44.311-06:00

The following arrived Sunday, October 14, from a friend whose dedication to changing the world continues for the better, at least most of the time: [edited version] "I just read [El Paso County, Colorado, Sheriff] Terry Maketa’s essay on “Why I need a tax hike for the Sheriff’s Department” and looked at his current budget: $47.8 million. Taking the land area of El Paso County, I subtracted the

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-76484908730371416582012-07-23T16:50:00.001-06:002013-04-15T15:45:07.275-06:00

Climbing out of a big, black hole this morning, I could finally see the light of day. As I opened my bedroom blinds and cautiously opened the window, a wonderful, clean, sweet, moist waft of air freshened my lungs and filled the room with much-needed relief. The six o’clock sun’s warmth on my face complemented the cool air emanating from our rain-drenched earth. Praise god. All but two of us made

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-69296130299359719532012-05-04T12:24:00.000-06:002012-05-04T12:24:27.438-06:00

I’ve held prejudice against dandelions. Shocking, because in October 2010, I blogged about feeling rejected like one—if our feelings were real and acknowledged. In my yard, alone, dandelions took the brunt of victimization by pluck, hours of it. Now I’m free, and so are they! I love ’em.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-49958504669524032652012-04-30T16:41:00.001-06:002012-04-30T16:45:56.736-06:00

Electric. As a person known to repair almost anything, I avoid electrical repairs after having received a strong shock while fixing my hot tub. And though I’ll never need another perm or a pacemaker, the risks, in my opinion, outweigh the benefits of playing home electrician. One afternoon I decided to enjoy a riveting game of Miller Moth Tag. Currently there are more millers than in a Wisconsin

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4944414276522736412.post-10802083659909156652012-04-26T17:40:00.000-06:002012-04-26T17:40:03.332-06:00

My daughter Sandra is in need of a living kidney donor. Twenty years ago, Sandra’s diabetes led to her need for a new kidney and pancreas. Through the generosity of a donor family, she received those organs. She worked hard to care for her new organs that have lasted several years longer than expected, however both of the transplant organs have failed. Currently she is being kept alive by

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0