I would have called you Oma
Author Archives: joannejagoda
Cardboard Cemetery
I pass by them on my way down the hill to Safeway, or Peet’s names inscribed in simple block letters draped on stunted trees in the median or scrawled on cardboard “ grave” markers in a makeshift cemetery on a small rise excised by the cruel scalpel of racial injustice their hollow voices cry outContinue reading “Cardboard Cemetery”
Super Nova
she brought solace to a broken country deeply in need of healing
A Winter’s Day
Taking a walk on a stunning Northern California winter’s day a teasing, tantalizing morsel of spring the sky a flawless blue, the sun inviting and healing a day begging for short sleeves and sunglasses barren tree limbs practically stretching like purring cats basking on a window seat I pull down my mask stealing a breathContinue reading “A Winter’s Day”
This was the Year
This was the year we had to face ourselves in the mirror because there was no place to run and hide, and nowhere to go.
Thanksgiving Reflections 2020
Thanksgiving 2020 for all of us will not be business as usual. Who would have ever believed that this beloved holiday ….will be curtailed.
Flo at the Diner
Flo Strauss, compact and efficient in her spotless pink uniform, strides briskly to the lone burly policeman sitting in the last booth on the right. She’s in a good mood. It looks like it is going to be a beautiful May day, pink clouds crowding in the sky visible through the plate glass windows inContinue reading “Flo at the Diner”
Interlude in Trader Joe’s Parking Lot
A man playing a saxsits on a makeshift stoolin Trader Joe’s parking lot, scrounging for his three kidshis sad story splayedon tattered cardboard, his reedy notesa brass confessionsoulful, plaintive, squandered in this shitty parking lotwith the bouquet of urinedrifting in from dark corners. I’m pulled in by the musiclike a rogue wave,and he has noContinue reading “Interlude in Trader Joe’s Parking Lot”
The Cuervo Gold and Clorox Blues
It’s not a good sign when you’remesmerized by the Westminster dog show.Got to get out of this place.Yes, even a well-planned forayto Safeway will suffice.I know I shouldn’t go, but I can’t relinquishthis last vestige of my old life. Grocery list clutched in my gloved hand,mask in place, fogging my glasses,cart wiped down.I try toContinue reading “The Cuervo Gold and Clorox Blues”
My Calistoga in the Age of Covid
We did not know what to expect. This was our first post-Corona hotel stay and we were apprehensive. We had booked two nights in our favorite go-to place, the Calistoga Spa. Calistoga, a little town, nestled in the Napa Valley holds a huge place in my heart. Calistoga is rich with memories of my youth.Continue reading “My Calistoga in the Age of Covid”
