Swim Lessons

I watch my friend Jo swim laps in our neighborhood pool and admire her steady stroke, cutting through the cerulean water with little effort.  As she glides to the pool's edge and somersaults under the water, I see her swim cap bob up again without missing a beat. She urges me to get in.  "Nah, I'll go down like a rock," I tell her. "Come on, I'll teach you how," she says. Not today, my friend.  When I was a kid, my mother told me that she had a bad... Read More

Lovey-Dovey

  The bird turned to look at us, its small, graceful head swiveling atop an elegant neck of beautiful blush pink feathers. “That’s the male dove, and it’s his turn on duty,” my daughter Megan told me, pointing up to where the bird sat in a loose nest of twigs and grass. It was 2021, and I’d returned to the Midwest for the summer where Megan’s home becomes my home base. It includes her husband Jay and my three grandkids (aka my merrymakers)—and now a couple of mourning doves tucked... Read More

Profiled: Part 2

With more time under my belt as a single woman, the odor of my difficult divorce dissipated, and I was ready to show my kinder, gentler side. I revised my dating profile, cutting and pasting until the final version felt like a blurred photo suddenly coming into focus: I'm a straight shooter who is what she seems--no games, looking for quality vs. quantity. My photos are all recent. I'm educated and self-supporting and you are as well. If you're curious, smart and funny (David Sedaris, dry-witted funny), you're a triple... Read More

Profiled: Part 1

I'm a woman who likes details.  So it's no surprise that I jotted down information about the dates I've been on since my divorce.  I'd have my notes ready before a second date to refresh my memory about the guys I met online. Answers are often in the details. My first step, though, was writing MY profile that told interested parties what I was looking for in a date.  I joined two sites, match.com and Tinder, and hoped men would swipe right and start an online conversation.  That was 10... Read More

My Truth

Dating at any age, but for sure at my age, requires learning to read cues and step around land mines. I remember the smooth talker who worked in the cannabis industry ("I don't partake," he told me. "Sure," I thought). He agreed to meet for our first date at that mountaintop resort I like with the valet parking, but the night we were there, the wind decided to join the party. What started as a warm, sunny afternoon dropped the temps about 20 degrees as the sun began to set.... Read More