Swim Lessons

Posted on by Giddyup,Linda!
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

Profiled: Part 1

Posted on by Giddyup,Linda!
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

Uncoupled

Posted on by Giddyup,Linda!
I describe divorce as an out of body experience, where the team you've played on for decades is now in "man down" mode. When I first filled out forms asking my marital status, it felt strange checking the box next to SINGLE, like a kite flying aimlessly with no one holding the string. I'd marked MARRIED for most of my adult life and never thought I'd be anything but that for the rest of my days.  One part of me knew I was single, but another part felt as if... Read More

Man of Letters

Posted on by Giddyup,Linda!
Beware the pen pal. He reached out across the vast Tinder wasteland and said he liked my profile and could I meet him for breakfast? This was some years ago and he, in Palm Springs on vacation, had posted photos of himself looking as pure and smooth as a well-aged Canadian whiskey, a guy who could’ve had an Olympic pedigree with his tall, lanky physique, chiseled jaw and mop of silver hair that begged to be touched. I couldn’t make a date work with my full schedule, but he parted... Read More

My Truth

Posted on by Giddyup,Linda!
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