Author Archives: janishaag

Singin’ and swingin’ and gettin’ merry like Christmas.—Maya Angelou They are makin’ merry, those ladies harmonizingin the California statehouse, singin’ and swingin’, jingle bell rockin’, winter wonderlanding andhearing the angels sing for twenty-five years in the rotunda to let their … Continue reading →

For Deborah Meltvedt On a Friday walk-and-talkby the river, Deb spots himfirst—the dog-like head periscoping out of royal blue.We’ve seen him before here,this sea lion who’s apparently vacationing far from the sea—or perhaps he’s decided to relocate,given the ample supply … Continue reading →

All those years agoI stood facing him, my smallhands in his large onesas we promised each otherour forever love. Though I left him, and, later,he left me, we kept that promise,my companion spirit and I. And today, on the 40th … Continue reading →

Is there any other kind?The kind I offer too often?But I have such good suggestions. Like: Nibble a little. You might like it,I tell the cats when they turn uptheir noses at food they practically inhaled a few weeks earlier,laser … Continue reading →

When I was a kid, I thought I hadonly two: Pat and Dee, daughtersof my father’s sister, our Auntie Lo. And then Pat and Dee grew upand had babies, and my sister and Ilearned about second cousins, a nice concept. … Continue reading →

When I ask, you smileand agree, every time, as I present the topof my right hand, and you don yourclose-up glasses, take manicurescissors in hand, and snip the oddlylong hair growing from the centerof that hand that has stroked yourhead … Continue reading →

Sure, the temp’s in the mid-40s, butit’s sunny in Sacramento this fine morning,and we’re into something good,singing along with Herman’s Hermits— the five of us exercising with Shelleythis morning on Marilyn’s driveway—Something tells me I’m intosomething good. I cannot help … Continue reading →

The morning after we land,as I maneuver onto the freeway,head east to the place where I was raised,I am stunned to see more cars coming at methen all the vehicles on the small islandwhere we just spent three tropical weeks. … Continue reading →

(Hanalei town, north shore, Kauai) Ten miles of repainting double yellowlines punctuated with reflective squareson each side will take three weeks, so the flashing road signs indicate.And when we see the crewpainstakingly lining the rural road through Hanalei, we understand … Continue reading →

(North shore Kauai) We think they’re donkeys,but maybe they’re burros…we don’t know, and we don’t care, because I have a bag of small carrotsI’ve been saving for some four-hoovedanimal across the road—from the mooing pipi wahine (at least she sounds … Continue reading →