Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
Tehachapi's Online Community News & Entertainment Guide
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A friend and I were discussing politics the other day -- the good, the bad and the ugly. Too many issues, too many things going on, we agreed. How do we keep up with it all? How do we stay on top of everything? How do we pick and choose where to put our energies and efforts? Good questions all. Asked if I had a top issue, a priority issue, I said no, not really. She asked me if gay rights weren't a priority for me and I said yes, they are, but not the only or the main priority. I said I was a...
This story I'm offering up today – actually a story and a little story within the story – is one of the favorite ones I've received lately. I don't know who wrote it (that "Author Unknown" is quite prolific!), but I think it is a wonderful idea, a wonderful message, and a wonderful way to think of things. Here you go: A young woman was diagnosed with a terminal illness and given three months to live. As she was getting her affairs in order, she contacted her pastor to discuss her final wis...
I admit it, I'm not real big on housework. I do it as little of it as possible. Okay, okay, really, I HATE HOUSEWORK! But houses need work, and every now and then I find I have to do some (more) cleaning. I really identify with the saying "I dusted once and the dust came back; I'm not falling for that again!" and I try to put it off as long as possible...and usually until I'm expecting company. In fact, I wonder if my house would ever really get cleaned at all if no one ever came over. Probably...
Some years ago I shared a funny email with my mother titled "Things my mother taught me." She laughed as hard as I did because, after all, mothers are also daughters (my mother had the same sort of wonderful relationship with my grandmother that I had with her, and she learned the same lessons from her mother). And because I enjoyed the lessons I was taught, and I remember so fondly laughing with my own mother about this list, I want to share it once again with all of you in honor of the...
Usually I'm a pretty optimistic person, but sometimes I worry about things both big and small. Take world peace, for instance (a really big thing) – I sometimes worry that no matter how noble a goal it is, it will never happen. I worry about this because of the constant reminders I see all around me that people can't get along in the smaller bits and pieces of life (i.e. the little things) – never mind the larger picture – and I seem to be thinking about it more and more these days becau...
I read somewhere that every time you learn something, your brain gets a new wrinkle in it, suggesting that the more wrinkles your brain has, the smarter you are. Sometimes I just don't want to waste any wrinkles on things I don't really need to know, but then other times I get a kick out of learning useless facts. Somewhere along the way I have accumulated a long list of things none of us probably really needs to know, and as you read through them, you can decide for yourself if you want to use...
It's St. Patrick's Day – the day when everyone is a little Irish. And why not? If this is a holiday that brings us closer to a feeling of togetherness and camaraderie through green colored celebrations and adopted heritage, then I say Faith and Begorrah, let the celebrating begin! I do have a drop or two of genuine Irish blood in me veins, thanks to me grandmamma, Josephine O'Brien, who was, coincidentally, born on March 17, so we were always celebrating St. Paddy in one way or another as I w...
And the gypsies dance and the gypsies sing and the gypsies holler and they stamp their feet to the music, fala lalala, la la la, fala lalala la laah! When I was a wee child, I asked my mom why my stomach made noises when I was hungry. She told me, very matter-of-factly, that there were little men in my tummy whose job it was to shovel food from my stomach into the intestines. She said those men loved their work, and when they didn't have anything to do, they banged their shovels against the wall...
Last year about this time I wrote about my experiences marching in Los Angeles in the Women's March, along with some 750,000 other people. This year I'm writing about the same kind of event, but this time I was marching with several thousand people in Bakersfield. Two very different experiences, and yet also very much the same. The Women's March has become an annual global event, and last year a few cities in California hosted marches. A friend and I opted to go to Los Angeles via MetroLink,...
Every now and then I come across some especially interesting story – something I didn't write but kind of wish I would have – and if there is no copyright infringement involved, I like to share it. These days I get a lot of neat things via email and several of the social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, but the story below is one I got by hand from my mother some years ago. Mom didn't remember where or when she got it except that it was a long time ago (like in the 40s or 50s) – she hand...
With all that is going on in the world – and in our state and even in our own little mountain town – that most of us describe as uncertain or scary or challenging... or all of the above, it's refreshing to know that a lot of good things continue to happen as well, and a lot of good thoughts and inspirational messages are always circulating out there. One of those messages I'd like to share with you today came to me some years ago from a family friend, Dolores, who said she got it from her mother...
It's almost "next year" (finally) and here's to having a good one! I've always loved the idea of a new year. It's as if suddenly, when the clock's hands both point upwards in the dead of a cold winter's night and twelve bells chime while the ball drops in your time zone, it will be a brand new day, a brand new year, and everything will seem new. As if suddenly – even if the change is marked not by clock hands pointing and bells chiming but rather by a simple change of the digital readout on your...
My childhood was pretty traditional, generally speaking, and our holiday celebrations were no exception. Through college, winter holidays were spent with my family – some years at our house, some years at G'pa and G'ma White's house, some years at G'ma and G'pa Larimer's house, some years at the home of my dad's sister and her family (with whom we were very close). Thanksgiving always meant dozens of people (large extended family) and a huge home-made farm fresh feast, and if Green Bay was playi...
In spite of all the disasters, killing sprees, ugliness and uncertainty going on in our world today, there is always something to be thankful for. Every morning when I wake up to a new day, I am thankful to be alive, to know that I can pretty much enjoy the coming day as I chose. Every morning when I sit at the breakfast table and eat the food before me, I am thankful for the bounty in my refrigerator and cupboards. I am also thankful for the clothes I wear, and the medicines I take, and the com...
Like Indiana Jones hates snakes, I hate spiders. I was really upset when I visited my parents in Tehachapi once and discovered there were black widows living in the garage. I went through conniption fits every time I had to go out there for something and I swear I could feel them crawling on me when I got back in the house, although I never found one in my clothes. I did, however, find one in my bed one morning as I was stripping off the sheets. I considered never visiting my parents again...
One of my all time favorite movies is 1963's "Funny Girl," the Fanny Brice story, starring Barbra Streisand as the famed Ziegfeld and Baby Snooks star. I love the movie even though, as I learned by reading up – and as is common of Hollywood movies – it strays far away from facts and the realities of the singer's life. Nevertheless, in good Hollywood fashion, the made up scenes are all pretty spectacular anyway, worthy of a chuckle or a laugh, or in some cases, an expression (or att...
Whenever someone asks me what my favorite season is, I find it really hard to pick just one. That's because my favorite season is usually the one that is coming up or just starting, whatever season that may be. In other words, what I really like about a season has more to do with the change than with the actual season. I lived for many years in the Bay Area, and the seasons don't change much up there. In the winter you wake up to fog every morning and when the fog lifts, it rains; at night the...
A friend called one day to let me know that her 18-year old daughter was moving out of the house and into her own apartment. My friend was understandably a little sad, but she was also a little ecstatic. This daughter was the last of four kids to move out, and that meant that my friend would finally have the house to herself. In fact, she was pretty excited to think that now she won't have to wonder what's left in the fridge, or where the scissors are, or even where a pen is. She'll know that...
My folks moved to Tehachapi in 1986, and I came to visit them often. They loved this little mountain town but I couldn't quite share their enthusiasm at the time. You see, on one of my first visits, just driving around town, we saw an old pick-up truck in a driveway, sporting the biggest Confederate flag I'd ever seen. I thought to myself, "I'm sure glad I don't live here." Then, of course, as fate would have it, for unexpected reasons I moved to Tehachapi myself in 2000. I still was noticing...
I'm going to revisit the Title IX issue again because once again it is being dissed and dismissed by certain government officials in our country. Like many people (and like the ex-jock I am), I tend to think of Title IX in terms of what it has meant to female athletes, but while sports are certainly worthy of equality, 1972's Title IX itself encompasses so much more than sports. The Title reads: No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be...
I was reminded the other day of a breakfast I had with friends a few years ago, an experience that has always served as a great lesson to me about how utterly draining negativity can be and how to deal with it. I’ll call those friends Ed and Elle. We met at a quaint little restaurant here in town, where everyone is usually brimming with year-round cheer, a place that served good food and plenty of it. We sat at a table with a checkered tablecloth, by the fireplace. I loved the place but I plead...
In honor of Father’s Day I’d like to honor my father, who passed away in 2000, by telling you a little bit about him and how he lived his life. My dad, Thomas C. White, MD, was born and raised in Southern Iowa. The oldest of seven kids, he was a dirt poor farm boy during the Great Depression, proud of his roots but destined to forge his own path in life. His path would allow him to pursue his many interests and make use of his many talents, taking him on several new adventures and allowing him...
This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend, and for many of us, this weekend signals the beginning of summer activities like picnics, vacations and baseball or softball games. It may be the weekend you clear your land of weeds or plant the garden; or take a long motorcycle ride or a session on the chaise lounge with a good book. It might still be cool in our mountains (and snow is not really ever out of the question) but it’s a weekend that many (including me) like to think “outside” more and more....
As Mother’s Day approaches, as I always do, I can’t help thinking about and remembering my mom, who passed away peacefully on Sunday, June 29, 2003. I still remember that morning like it was yesterday, and I still miss her so. I got up early and felt some urgency to be with her that morning. She was asleep in her hospital bed in the living room, breathing shallowly. I kissed her and told her it was all right for her to go, and she went almost immediately. It was something we had discussed bef...
I had my first colonoscopy in 2001, I was 53 years old and my doctor thought it was a good idea. A colonoscopy is a routine, preventative procedure that involves a tube with a camera being slid up the rectum so the doctor can get a good look at innards like the colon. But while it does sound gruesome, it can also be a lifesaver (discovering colon cancer early makes it treatable) and the magic age of 50 is the point at which everyone should get checked. I didn’t know anything about c...
