top of page
Author, Artist, Storyteller

LIFE'S SECOND ACTS
a blog by Marilyn Woods
Search


"A Cigarette that bares a lipstick's traces . . ."
The sight or smell of a cigarette repels me. Wretched. Disgusting. Downright stinky. Josefina Aguilar, Oaxaca Mexico Curiously, two...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Apr 162 min read
70 views
2 comments


All I Wanted for Christmas...
My list of memorable Christmas gifts is long and oh-so-varied topped by a complete surprise of a new automobile—a station wagon—perfect...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Dec 21, 20242 min read
155 views
2 comments


My summer obsession . . .
...gets at that "wild, silky part of ourselves."

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Jun 29, 20244 min read
155 views
1 comment


Survived another one!
NO I didn't bake the pies. Didn't snap the green beans. Did NOT tear the sourdough loaf into chunks for the stuffing. Certainly didn't...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Nov 24, 20231 min read
173 views
2 comments


AGAIN!
I was certain when I handed the roasting pan to my daughter and turned over my father’s pearl-handled carving set to my son a dozen years...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Nov 8, 20231 min read
128 views
3 comments


One Day and counting...
I first wrote the piece below sixteen months ago just after Sophie, my third granddaughter, and Daniel, her tall, dark, and handsome...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Oct 5, 20234 min read
171 views
3 comments


"...the last act of secular prayer"
Sophie, the bride-to-be and avid reader, has no time for books lately – she’s getting married next Saturday. We’re all in a tizzy!...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Oct 1, 20233 min read
157 views
1 comment


D-Day minus ten
Hummmmm. Brrrrrrrrrrrrr. A medium-pitched hum without variation in tone buzzes throughout the complex. The home and park-like setting...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Sep 26, 20231 min read
140 views
2 comments


Game Days...
Just as 2023 began, I added the New York Times “Spelling Bee,” to my morning routine. It’s a puzzle in which players try to make words...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
May 17, 20233 min read
109 views
4 comments


Really last minute shopping...
The invitation for the dreaded gift exchange stated unisex and at the bottom in barely perceptible font size, up to $100 limit. Yes, I am...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Dec 20, 20224 min read
123 views
2 comments


A Wild Turkey happening...
When the front door of my daughter’s home in Valley Center opened, I froze. The sight of her face—a blackish-purple swollen...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Nov 16, 20223 min read
191 views
2 comments


HALLOWEEN IN THE LAND OF OZ
From the top shelf in the auto department of Ace Hardware, I pulled a shiny aluminum funnel, the kind for they use at Serrato’s Auto in...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Oct 17, 20223 min read
140 views
3 comments


Let 'em eat fish...
I have been called a persnickety eater. Certainly, I'm an unadventurous diner. Not likely to dive into unfamiliar dishes. Especially...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Sep 8, 20222 min read
151 views
3 comments


If you love the game of baseball...
The Twin Bill published today, the first day of the 2021 World Series. So many great baseball stories! Especially moving, the poignant...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Oct 22, 20212 min read
193 views
2 comments


Green ice cream
“Green.” My toddler, wearing pint-sized Tony Llama cowboy boots, uttered this one-word reply to “What kind of ice cream would you like?”...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Oct 8, 20213 min read
267 views
4 comments


Like the bay...
Her name is Chesapeake. Named for the Chesapeake Bay where her parents fell in love. She is the adorable red head, the fifth of my five...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Aug 8, 20214 min read
328 views
6 comments


Belated and beloved...
My birthday this year was a bit of blur nestled in the midst of Mother’s Day, three family birthday celebrations, one Master of Arts...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Jun 15, 20213 min read
247 views
4 comments


Be a child...
In the recently imposed stay-in-house restriction my region of California is under, I stumbled onto a work of art of mine from a long...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Dec 19, 20205 min read
387 views
3 comments


Thanksgiving leftover...
Easily the oddest Thanksgiving ever. The family unit carved up like a turkey. In Arizona, they put up their Christmas tree and had cereal...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Nov 28, 20203 min read
217 views
3 comments


My dining room. Inspired by Billy Collins, Poet Laureate.
It’s a small quaint room, my dining room, where meals are rarely eaten. The feast is on the wall, a gallery of art. A peony flower floats...

Marilyn Gardner Woods
Nov 22, 20206 min read
261 views
3 comments
bottom of page