<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Marilyn Woods]]></title><description><![CDATA[The official website of author Marilyn Woods featuring original stories and essays.]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/blog</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:40:13 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[A strange obsession?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Eight-year-old Carly, my granddaughter, stood somewhat in awe, somewhat in puzzlement in front of the floor-to-ceiling display cabinet at the end of the room. “You sure do like skeletons, Neeny,” she observed. I do. I do collect skeletons or skulls. I no longer collect jewelry of any kind—I have a guy in my life that likes to do that for me. But recently, I could not resist a tiny skull crafted from coral, the color of ripe peaches. Tisi, the very talented jeweler aat Lost Cities Beads in Old...]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/a-strange-obsession</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a5134a2661479e527e22cd7</guid><category><![CDATA[Art Speak]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 10 Jul 2026 18:06:29 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_94061635feea4bc0b9883e31f7b5fc7b~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Genius]]></title><description><![CDATA[I can’t say that it ruins my day, but it definitely frustrates me and affects my overall performance. It’s just a small failure, but not a good way to begin. I have a routine. First checking my emails, then messages, and then I open the New York Times. Methodically, I scroll down reading as little of the national news as possible, skimming the world news, opening a sports piece only if it pertains to one of my teams, save any recipe that sounds appealing—and easy, and finally get to the...]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/genius</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a32cb31a0be590c66db8986</guid><category><![CDATA[Silly stuff]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sweet Slices of Everyday Life]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 17 Jun 2026 16:36:22 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_ccb6d37da0a1447dad42ea9923f2214a~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_879,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[And I'm Exhausted!]]></title><description><![CDATA[As our journey to the Midwest, the East Coast, and the South comes to an end, I have reflections and resolutions.   I began my current trip preparation—one filled with special occasions—vowing, “It’s official. I’m done with trying to get everything I own for eleven days into a carry-on the size of a lunchbox. I am not in a contest to see who can travel the smallest, lightest, or most efficient! I don’t care if all three wrinkle-free pants go with all three easily 'rinsed out' tops for nine...]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/and-i-m-exhausted</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6a0eda30a2438924d1095006</guid><category><![CDATA[Family Fun]]></category><category><![CDATA[Adventures Home  & Away]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 21 May 2026 10:37:41 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_f599e737fd85408a9cbc4f4c6854c8eb~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Promenade in Purples]]></title><description><![CDATA[Regal, like dignitaries in a receiving line, they stand in their purple opulence. Magnificent tropical beauties, the awe-inspiring Jacaranda trees full of silky flowers which hang in countless full bunches grow twenty-five to forty feet with an equal spread. With arching branches and gracefully curved multiple trunks, they frame First Avenue, along with graceful queen palms, on both sides from Walnut to Laurel, the alphabetically named tree cross streets of my San Diego neighborhood, Bankers...]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/promenade-in-purples</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69fa42395caf4ed272bdcd8e</guid><category><![CDATA[Art Speak]]></category><category><![CDATA[Adventures Home  & Away]]></category><category><![CDATA[Writers and poets]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 05 May 2026 19:35:59 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_d9c547a0a8844b41a61063ef06456fa6~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[I’d Rather Be Red...]]></title><description><![CDATA[Oh, how I’d love to be a redhead in a Toulouse Lautrec painting. Flame-hair igniting the dance halls and brothels of Montmartre. A can-can dancer, 	a launderess, 		a prostitute. Working-class girls. Reclining, crouching, bathing. I imagine myself on stage, high-kicking the top hat off the gentleman in the front row. Or a sad chanteuse clad in long black gloves crooning a soft song. Perhaps adjusting my peek-a-boo fishnet stockings... 	or washing my copper tresses in la toilette. Toulouse...]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/i-d-rather-be-red</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69ecfd7a42384749035f4ff1</guid><category><![CDATA[Art Speak]]></category><category><![CDATA[Girl's Night]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 27 Apr 2026 17:58:40 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_0aac2d9c490c4192b167516182431051~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_317,h_282,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Neon Magic]]></title><description><![CDATA[One of the most widely-anticipated and dazzling exhibitions has opened at The San Diego Museum of Art— Cafés and Cabarets—The Spectacular Art of Toulouse-Lautrec. And spectacular it is! A brilliant review of the captivating portraits and posters of 19 th  century Paris nightlife—the Belle Epoch era or “beautiful era” of peace, prosperity, and optimism. Lautrec’s art highlights the legendary Moulin Rouge and its’ extraordinary cast of characters. Lautrec was the master at making a moment in...]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/neon-magic</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69d99cdd46e8409f60b23bc7</guid><category><![CDATA[Art Speak]]></category><category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 11 Apr 2026 00:59:37 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_4fb21acbf5814a478b0a667a700e1d7a~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_758,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Puzzling, to say the least . . .]]></title><description><![CDATA[Three of us worked the thousand-piece Paris scene puzzle over a period of ninety days, completing it just before the deadline I had set of the spring forward  daylight savings time change. Time to live outside. Two very senior seniors and one extremely hip and cosmopolitan thirty something. My latest puzzle fascination began at a spacious lake house in Michigan last summer—a Big Chill  version of Friends . Six of us, usually with a cup of coffee, a beer, or a glass of wine in hand, took turns...]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/puzzling-to-say-the-least</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69cc978df7044e6cf7a462a9</guid><category><![CDATA[Surprising Silver Linings]]></category><category><![CDATA[Silly stuff]]></category><category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sweet Slices of Everyday Life]]></category><category><![CDATA[Family Fun]]></category><category><![CDATA[Girl's Night]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 01 Apr 2026 03:59:27 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_69cfab53f72e404993821c9440f41f6b~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow . . .]]></title><description><![CDATA[Red Pancake Plant (Kalanchoe Thyrsiflora), 2012 Spring arrived recently, and my favorite place became the garden. San Diego’s sure-fire and steadfast sunshiny springtime weather ended the indoor fireplace season. I am a gardener. My maiden name is Gardner which primarily comes from an English occupational surname for “keeper of the garden.” I am that, but also a lover of plants, the life and death cycle so clearly illustrated in gardening, more each year of my adult life. I’ve had many...]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/to-plant-a-garden-is-to-believe-in-tomorrow</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69adc7d23fdd64550e6cd3d2</guid><category><![CDATA[Adventures Home  & Away]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sweet Slices of Everyday Life]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 08 Mar 2026 19:07:30 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_32dc0f3f84874b8f8d924f917a2c4bd6~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_640,h_480,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Let there be light...]]></title><description><![CDATA[Ode to Programmable Timers Like the first rise of the conductor’s baton in the hushed concert hall, there is a moment when my home is filled not with music—with light. Thank you, programmable timers. The light began when, as a recent widow, I moved into 215, my new home just as the time changed, my days falling into autumn darkness—the deepest darkest cover of loneliness late afternoon through the never-ending space until bedtime. Soon, I ventured to Ace Hardware and returned with five...]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/let-there-be-light</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69a4d4d52b1318a2485076f0</guid><category><![CDATA[Surprising Silver Linings]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sweet Slices of Everyday Life]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 03 Mar 2026 02:12:20 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_6a509e900a6940a286534cd3de472095~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[            Ode to My Quasi-Greek Statue]]></title><description><![CDATA[Sorry, not really a statue, my friend. You're a bust. Head and shoulders only. But what a delightful companion you are! Ready to party at the drop of a hat. To celebrate. How glamourous you looked for New Year’s Eve. Those white and silver plumes in your hair and those rhinestones dripping. Show-stopper! It’s adorable how each time I go to Texas, you don your Dallas necklace announcing my destination. Like you’re ready to burst into “The Stars at Night are big and bright. Deep in the heart ....]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/ode-to-my-quasi-greek-statue</link><guid isPermaLink="false">698f6a48b5fb2c66253ae085</guid><category><![CDATA[Girl's Night]]></category><category><![CDATA[Silly stuff]]></category><category><![CDATA[Holidays]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 13 Feb 2026 18:31:48 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_fa8a942b851645e293f834fc677fefb7~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Never too old . . .]]></title><description><![CDATA[New Year’s resolution, 2006, number seven? Learn something new. I It has taken me a few weeks to get my mojo going, and amazingly I am learning not one, but two new things. The first, a surprise even to myself, I am studying meteorology. Starting simple with a Great Courses program taught by a UCLA professor. I say simple, but it’s turning out to be as difficult as learning a new language. 	But fascinating! According to the bespectacled professor, Nature Abhors Extremes . Some examples: A...]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/never-too-old</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69838ce8131f188df5618fe5</guid><category><![CDATA[Silly stuff]]></category><category><![CDATA[Writers and poets]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sweet Slices of Everyday Life]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 04 Feb 2026 18:26:46 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_b9d9578dbed54a448d15c58bc5a006d4~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Careful what you wish for . . .]]></title><description><![CDATA[“Twas a month after Christmas . . . They all know. My family. I wish for an all-family reunion at least once a year. Miraculously, it happens again and again. This year, the clan—relatives from the Outer Banks, Brooklyn, Washington, Oregon, and nearby Valley Center—gathered in San Diego over the Christmas and New Year’s holiday with three full-family happenings and mini-family get-togethers sprinkled throughout the week. Two birthday parties, Christmas Eve, Christmas morning and evening, New...]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/careful-what-you-wish-for</link><guid isPermaLink="false">696a9337d896cb8b6939a58f</guid><category><![CDATA[Family Fun]]></category><category><![CDATA[Holidays]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 16 Jan 2026 19:58:13 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_decdb30a6d604c178b3b2ab7cd6067aa~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Stack Pack]]></title><description><![CDATA[Stack Packs for my Writing Group Cash at 5 in his great-grandfather's football sweater “My grandmother invented the Stack Pack,” five-year-old Cash boasted vehemently to his six-year-old sister with the pride reserved for a Nobel prize winner recently recognized for discovering a cure for a deadly disease. The Stack Pack—gifts assembled one atop another—minimum three—then wrapped with gaily decorated paper, anchored together with hidden tape between each and tied with a colorful bow did not...]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/the-stack-pack</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6928d7a5cb45ab7844dcb0e8</guid><category><![CDATA[Holidays]]></category><category><![CDATA[Family Fun]]></category><category><![CDATA[Parents/ Ancestors]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sweet Slices of Everyday Life]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 04 Dec 2025 15:49:44 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_ad8052c1eaf54620a8fd766c9ee41070~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[A sunshine-y San Diego Thanksgiving]]></title><description><![CDATA[Marshmallows on the sweet potatoes or not? 	Packaged dressing? Yes or No? 		Why is turkey so damn expensive? Pertinent questions like this are being asked in homes throughout my neighborhood. The city. State. Country, for God’s sakes. Pertinent questions about the most over-stuffed holiday of the year. It’s Thanksgiving. Ninety-four percent of people in the United States will celebrate the holiday this year. A holiday time for counting the number around the dining room table, counting...]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/a-sunshine-y-san-diego-thanksgiving</link><guid isPermaLink="false">692486b3906744e2261eefb2</guid><category><![CDATA[Surprising Silver Linings]]></category><category><![CDATA[Family Fun]]></category><category><![CDATA[Holidays]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sweet Slices of Everyday Life]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 24 Nov 2025 16:32:35 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_811dbf5496e1463097272c97d8024ade~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_189,h_266,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Today’s the day!]]></title><description><![CDATA[Happy one-hundredth birthday to Wilma. 	And Happy Publication Day! Available on Amazon - https://a.co/d/8q12Sbc  or by contacting me directly for a much less expensive copy!]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/today-s-the-day</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6914c6f432f607f092b61c3e</guid><category><![CDATA[Writers and poets]]></category><category><![CDATA[Girl's Night]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 12 Nov 2025 17:43:06 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_7e33349ffab24924ad1bf8fc94bcf5e7~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_940,h_788,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Writing about Wilma . . .]]></title><description><![CDATA[Wilma Withdrawal 	is definitely happening! After completing any major project, there’s some kind of letdown I’m thinking... 	 	It happened after completing my first book, T he Orangewoods—Seasons in the Country Artfully Lived,  which was published three months into the pandemic. 	An extremely soft landing into a shutdown world. 	It happened with my second,  After Goya—A Mature-ish Fairytale .  With this one, the letdown lingers with me regretting at times that I hadn’t written it in first...]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/writing-about-wilma</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68f3f8dba2a44301b28fcd19</guid><category><![CDATA[Surprising Silver Linings]]></category><category><![CDATA[Writers and poets]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sweet Slices of Everyday Life]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 18 Oct 2025 21:06:09 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_e0828e5b85ae45a9a755f65983ada6ff~mv2.jpeg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[My Recent Appliance Agonies...]]></title><description><![CDATA[La Familia, Gail Roberts,  2005 My gleaming new washing machine and dryer, so white they’re almost fluorescent, stand side by side in the...]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/my-recent-appliance-agonies</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68e464de4a2f8583aa9c0024</guid><category><![CDATA[Sweet Slices of Everyday Life]]></category><category><![CDATA[Silly stuff]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 07 Oct 2025 01:09:26 GMT</pubDate><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Falling for fall . . .]]></title><description><![CDATA[Usually at this time of year, I am musing about the arrival of fall... 	Last year, I wrote about autumn and art.** 		Several years ago, I...]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/falling-for-fall</link><guid isPermaLink="false">68c4606c38f238548746b882</guid><category><![CDATA[Entertainment]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sweet Slices of Everyday Life]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 15 Sep 2025 20:40:51 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_10020c3a68864d9ca2dfb07eee1f535c~mv2.webp/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA["Life is about using the whole box of crayons." ~ RuPaul]]></title><description><![CDATA[“There are certain shades of blue that make me ache.” In her recent newsletter, this one titled “Shades of Blue (and Something New),”...]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/life-is-about-using-the-whole-box-of-crayons-~-rupaul</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6898f2744d23f3b354183e1d</guid><category><![CDATA[Surprising Silver Linings]]></category><category><![CDATA[Texas y'all!]]></category><category><![CDATA[Art Speak]]></category><category><![CDATA[Family Fun]]></category><category><![CDATA[Silly stuff]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sweet Slices of Everyday Life]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 10 Aug 2025 20:10:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_58679e692bf048e6973a5bfa9252b303~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[News from granddaughter Number Five!]]></title><description><![CDATA[As a writer who has NEVER been published in the New York Times, and much more importantly as her grandmother,  this is wildly...]]></description><link>https://www.marilynwoodswriter.com/post/news-from-granddaughter-number-five</link><guid isPermaLink="false">6876bd363884aebe546c0cfc</guid><category><![CDATA[Surprising Silver Linings]]></category><category><![CDATA[Family Fun]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 15 Jul 2025 21:42:49 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4647a0_43de12e7420843c692d061a86ed00680~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_600,h_800,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Marilyn Gardner Woods</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>