by Marlene Bumgarner | May 26, 2024 | Aging, Cooking and Eating, Family, Gardening, Health
Sunday Breakfast It is Sunday morning, and I’m just finishing my version of a Full English Breakfast, which today consists of boiled then sauteed shitake mushrooms, sliced tomato, sliced new potatoes, chopped bok choi, a fried fresh egg, and two slices of...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Apr 22, 2024 | Aging, Community, Family, Gardening, Health
Unexpected News In late February, while visiting friends and family in Santa Cruz, I received a phone call from my dermatologist. Before I drove north, he had removed a mole from my breast and sent the tissue for testing. The diagnosis, he now informed me, was...
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 | Jan 3, 2024 | Aging, Community, Family, Writing
Setting New Year’s Resolutions for 2024 I’ve always been cautious about making New Year’s Resolutions. Laying out some things we want to accomplish, improve, or enjoy can be a positive experience. However, we may feel disappointed in ourselves if we...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Dec 21, 2023 | Aging, Child development, Christmas in Yorkshire, Cooking and Eating, Family, Grandparenting
Mom’s Christmas Pudding My favorite holiday tradition would have to be baking for Christmas. My mother would come home from church one Sunday and announce – “Right! it’s time to make Christmas Pudding.” I didn’t know for many years how my mother received...
by Marlene Bumgarner | Dec 8, 2023 | Aging, Family, Writing
Downsizing was one goal of my move to Southern California two years ago. Friends my age have for several years been reporting on their efforts to simplify their lives and save their children the emotionally laden task of going through a lifetime of possessions once...