Author Archives: janishaag

(In appreciation of East Lawn Cemetery, Sacramento, California) The cemetery of my heartis not unlike the one I walk throughas if it’s a lovely park, which it is—large, undulating with greennessand tall pines, not to mentiona vast field of well-scrubbedtombstones. … Continue reading →

Why Sunday I don’t know, but I swearthat’s when I hear them panting,their little green tongues hanging out, especially in summer, when I check oneach of them and carry them to the sink,place them on the pink plastic mat, murmuring … Continue reading →

As I roll out my mat in the back yard,I see you, my cats of different eras, arranging your long-gone selves aroundthe yard—from the blonde-furred, blue-eyed Redford (one of the dimmestbulbs on four paws) to the more recently departed orange-y … Continue reading →

Here I am! Didja miss me?I know that I’m a fair-weather friend,an over-90-degrees-before-I-test-your-waters swimmer, which is, perhaps, unfair, but you aresolar heated only by the actual sun, notany fancy equipment, and I’m sureI’m not the only timid one. So it’s … Continue reading →

Validation is a wonderful thing,even atop a cardboard boxof supplies that arrives monthly. Someone in a warehousesomewhere has Sharpie’d anencouraging message with my name on it,which indicates gratitudefor my purchase of bamboo toilet paper and recycledpaper plates. But I chooseto … Continue reading →

Last night,working late,the glow of the computerthe only light in the room, I heard the whine of a tinyhelicoptering somethingwhiz by my ear, and Iwhapped at it before I thought,Summer! Bugs!In winter I find myselfat first grateful for the lack … Continue reading →

In tai chi, they say,walking is simplyperpetual falling. The young instructorteaches this to a roomof beginners, all of us in the older adultcategory upstairs in a historichouse-turned-library. So much accumulated wisdomembedded in these walls, onthe shelves, in every exhale. We … Continue reading →

I take myself to see Dr. Janis,my co-conspirator in eye care,whose mother had the insightful ideato spell her daughter’s nameas my mother spelled mine,which is to say unusuallyfor a Janice. How could I not find instant rapportwith a blonde, bespectacled … Continue reading →

It occurs to you that all those timesyou got dumped by someone you adoredmay have been the work of the unseen onesprotecting you from future heartache. From the handsome one who liked to followevery new flower that came across his … Continue reading →

My third grade teacher said it so oftenthat her roomful of 1960s peace-and-love8-year-olds automatically chimed inas the first words fell from her lips: There’s no need to be mean. All these decades later I like to thinkthat my former classmates … Continue reading →