by Clifford Mae Henderson | Jan 18, 2019 | fiction, Musings
I am sitting in my dining room, eating a bowl of oatmeal with raisins and apples. It is morning. I am perusing my latest issue of the New Yorker and come across a review (by Jerome Groopman) of Rose George’s book Nine Pints. The first...
by Clifford Mae Henderson | Nov 21, 2018 | Musings
I wrote this yesterday. Today, mercifully, it’s begun to rain! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! May you feel safe, loved, healthy, and full of good nutritious food! But let us not forget those who must rise up from the fires and begin again. *** I was standing...
by Clifford Mae Henderson | Oct 21, 2018 | Musings, Uncategorized
I’m riding my bike along West Cliff, a beautiful bluff overlooking the Monterey Bay. I do this pretty regularly. I love my bike. I love the bay. You never know what you’re going to see. Whales? Otters? Dolphins? Lately, there have been tons of shore birds. They...
by Clifford Mae Henderson | Sep 19, 2018 | Dear Reader, Musings
The day started out proactively—and very much not in the spirit of improv theater, an art form I have chosen to dedicate a good portion of my life to. See, Dixie and I, aka The Fun Institute, had to plan out next year’s schedule. Much as it goes against our nature to...
by Clifford Mae Henderson | Jul 26, 2018 | Musings, Travel log
Posted previously on Women and Words. “Were you ever scared?” “Did you ever feel as if you weren’t safe?” Dixie and I get asked these two questions a lot since returning from our cross-country van trip. Mostly by women. It really sucks that women have to ask. But I...
by Clifford Mae Henderson | Jul 9, 2018 | Travel log
So the cat’s out of the bag. At least it is if you came to Saturday Morning Live improv this past Saturday, where Dixie and I got to be students for a change (way fun!) or if you were lucky enough to get tickets to see Improv Playhouse in Santa Cruz on Friday night....
by Clifford Mae Henderson | Jun 26, 2018 | Travel log
Earlier this month we had the privilege of hanging out at the Pine Ridge Lakota Reservation. A friend who really knows the place (you know who you are), has family and friends there, and very kindly took us on a historical tour, stopping by the mass grave at Wounded...
by Clifford Mae Henderson | Jun 12, 2018 | Travel log
At the start of this road trip, there were certain things I really wanted to see: Big Bend National Park in Texas, Niagara Falls, Yellowstone; and so far they have all lived up to the hype, though I wasn’t prepared for the heartbreaking poverty in the city of...
by Clifford Mae Henderson | Jun 1, 2018 | Travel log
When it was clear my father was dying, I asked him how he’d appear to me once he’d died. I explained to him how my deceased friend visited his wife as a blue heron, how Dixie’s mom came to her as a ladybug. He thought about it for a few seconds, his eyes closed, his...
by Clifford Mae Henderson | May 22, 2018 | Travel log
I call my GPS Sacagawea. She’s been a tremendous help on this road trip across the United States. Don’t get me wrong, I love my maps, but when it comes to negotiating our way through, say, Montgomery Alabama’s inner city to the Memorial for Peace and Justice (aka the...
