by Marlene Bumgarner | Jun 2, 2023 | Aging, Family, Writing
Hi everyone! I’ve been traveling and finalizing the sale of my house in Santa Cruz. Arrived back in Calabasas Tuesday night. Thanks to Lois Winston for publishing her interview with me on her web page today. You can read it here...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Apr 20, 2023 | Aging, Community, Family, Grandparenting
April 4. This is hard. Harder than I expected. Deconstructing my Santa Cruz house to reconstruct it for today’s market is, essentially, deconstructing the life I lived in it for a decade. Workmen are removing the wall decorations, TV screens, bookcases,...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Mar 3, 2023 | Aging, Community, Cooking and Eating, Family, Health
Happiness Starts in the Morning This morning I awakened just before my alarm went off. I set an alarm for 6:00 a.m. Monday through Friday so I can join a Shut Up and Write Group that meets 6:45-8:30. We check in, say where we’re calling from, then write for 90...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Nov 22, 2022 | Aging, Back to the Land, Community, Cooking and Eating, Family, Travel
Back in Calabasas I’m back home again after my 10-day road trip to northern California, featuring book readings, good times with friends, several bags of persimmons, and my 75th birthday. It was a great trip. Here are the Highlights: Because my first stop was...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Oct 20, 2022 | Aging, Child development, Community, Cooking and Eating, Family, Grandparenting
Pumpkin Patch Traditions Long-time readers know that when I lived in Santa Cruz my oldest granddaughter and I enjoyed visiting a pumpkin patch each October. As the years passed, I watched little Bean progress in her relationship with the pumpkins. At first, she just...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Sep 16, 2022 | Aging, Australia, Child development, England, Family
God Save the Queen Standing by the railway tracks in 1954, waving an Australian flag, I began a fascination with the Queen that would last my entire life. My schoolmates and I had been let off school to greet Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip as they embarked on a...