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Author, Artist, Storyteller

LIFE'S SECOND ACTS
a blog by Marilyn Woods
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Longer days...more pages
Something kind of crazy happens to me when the lazy, hazy days of summer begin. I want to bury myself, not in the sand, but in a great...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Jun 21, 20223 min read


I'll have the regular...
David first introduced me to the plant based Beyond Burger four years ago. Having been a vegetarian for twenty years, I had gone...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Jun 7, 20224 min read


A nine-day, one carry-on, five pounds added return to Texas. Yes, I ate the waffle...
“So what was the highlight of your Texas Trip this year,” my spirited longtime closest Texas friend asked as she edged her sleek black...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
May 2, 20224 min read


I could of had a snazzy new pair of earrings...
How well I remember my father, a jovial long-legged athletic sort, pine away over his golf-game-bucket-list-item. Dad lusted after, not...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Mar 30, 20221 min read


Olive overdose...
Via Zoom, Jan, my good Duplicate-bridge-playing-friend, said, “Can we take a break? I want a V-8.” We did. When we resumed, I heard the...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Mar 15, 20223 min read


"Possibilities of a new season..."
Just as the urge to gather pinecones and sip hot chocolate comes over me each autumn, an overwhelming compulsion to get my hands dirty...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Feb 24, 20223 min read


Scissors, screwdrivers, and sex
Geez. I still smell like I spent the night with an unwashed mechanic…oily and garage-like. Stridently attacking my Five Lists 2022, ...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Jan 20, 20225 min read


Oh Christmas tree...
Way back before the twenty-first century began, in 1999, there was an extraordinary garden store in Santa Barbara, Smith & Hawken, where...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Dec 17, 20212 min read


Is it only me?
Lost in translation in a QR Code nation. Weird sensation Increasing presence in my everyday life of a two-dimensional square made up of...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Dec 2, 20213 min read


Moments apart. Footsteps away.
Crossing the First Street Bridge one sunshine-filled day recently, I glanced west. The view of Point Loma and the sparkling waters of the...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Sep 27, 20216 min read


Do you know of the Ember Months?
“…the days grow short when you reach September” September ushers in the Ember Months. I don’t remember when I first heard the phrase, a...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Sep 1, 20213 min read


The Art of Bonsai
The burly hunk of a man, a thatch of coarse flaxen hair sticking out from under his straw hat on the right side, concluded his...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Jul 26, 20216 min read


In the garden
A quiet morning in the garden Quiet, save for an occasional chirp or plane's low hum The weathered gate closed The wind gentle The iron...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Jul 5, 20211 min read


Back to The Phantom, the catcher behind homeplate and Halloween costumes...
Our mask-nation is gradually unveiling itself. An awkwardness permeates as we cope with “to wear or not to wear.” For some, masks dangle...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Jun 4, 20213 min read


"The lusty month of May..."
A new year begins for me each May. And the Matilija Poppies bloom. My life began in May just about forever ago. While many around me mope...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
May 22, 20212 min read


Tomato anyone?
Simple pleasure. A pleasure I wouldn’t have had if there had been no pandemic. I wouldn’t have taken the time. Heirloom tomato seeds...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Mar 13, 20213 min read


The mighty Kumquat
Harvest time. Not fruits of my bygone Camelot, Lush wine grapes Juicy oranges. Instead, the modest kumquat Is sought From my hillside...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Feb 20, 20212 min read


Near Misses
Ordinarily the twilight hour is precious to me. Not too long ago, however, the magic time between sunset and dusk presented as nerve...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Feb 4, 20217 min read


Quite spectacular!
My Texas story-telling friend Chris sent pictures this week of snow—two inches—fallen across her acreage and her birdhouses. Unusual for...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Jan 13, 20212 min read
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