TRUE CRIME - TRUE LOVE MEMOIR

My cat family lived happily outside. The only times we touched was when Mama Kitty cautiously rubbed her furry back against my leg. She trusted me to feed her and her offspring, now longer than she is, but not nearly so rolly polly. I guess she ate as often as she could get me to…

Suddenly, I awoke from a dream: I look through my sheer living room curtains. Barry’s BMW and my Hyundai sit side by side in the darkened garage. The streetlight shining in front of our house illuminates a man between our cars walking toward our house. He doesn’t look threatening. I don’t know him. I’d recognize…

During frequent downpours in our rainy mountain valley, the cat family stayed dry. Mama Cat moved them from patio to under the house when they turned six weeks old. They were safer there, sleeping on top of boogie boards and ice chests and Barry’s and my cardboard boxes. I’m glad this is Mama Cat’s last…

Part 3 Before the cats appeared, I’d hung a bird feeder in a Madagascar Dragon Tree. This changed the ecology of the down-sloping backyard overflowing with strawberry guava, tangerine and banana trees, ferns, and anthurium plants (which my mom used to call “little boy flowers”). Dozens of rice birds, cardinals, and a few wild green parrots…

The good news about climate change is that it’s still not too late to reverse it if the people of the world all pull together. The best news about that is, we have incredible young activists marching, protesting and fighting to get people to do just that.  Climate control is the top priority of the…

Part 2 On a cool February morning three and a half years ago, I carried a bucket of towels and T-shirts to hang on the rope clothesline spanning the length of the patio. Hearing a rustling sound, I looked down. Wedged between the wheelchair and a chair protected by a plastic mattress cover, three baby…

Part 1 In 2016, three emaciated cats that were barely-bigger-than-kittens hunted geckos and rats under million dollar homes on this quiet mountain street. They optimistically raced up trees, trying to catch birds perched in shade trees in the overgrown backyard of the sixty year old house where my fiancé Barry and I had lived since…

A second chance is always warranted, right? Good news! This week, we’ve found a great story to bring you about the encouraging comeback of the kākāpō parrot, a chubby, dancing (yes, you read that right), flightless bird that has been on the verge of extinction for quite some time. Due to various factors such as…

In a world that often seems cold, calculating and manipulative, a simple act of kindness can mean so much. Thankfully, it doesn’t take a lot to brighten someone’s day with a kind word or gesture. After all, what does it cost us but a moment of time to smile at a passerby or ask after…

Dreams are today’s answers to tomorrow’s questions. –Edgar Cayce Did you ever dream about insignificant things that actually happened later?  I once dreamed that a plastic planter hanging from a tree outside my window broke and the plant inside it splattered on the ground. The next morning, the planter fell.  Sometimes, I wake up from…

Despite their somewhat shady history, drones are quickly being proven by scientists to be incredibly useful at collecting particular types of data – and can actually be used to save lives. One such way is collecting data in storms. A recent article provides a fascinating insider’s view at how a group of U.S. researchers are…

Suddenly, it hits you. Something’s wrong. Why did you miss it? Because you’ve been mesmerized by the charming stranger who flattered his way into your life recently. Maybe you caught him in a lie. Maybe he insists your best friend isn’t good enough for you, and you stop hanging out with her. Maybe he brings…