Christmas morning hike among the Blue Oak trees covered with moss, stubby manzanita bushes and bark-peeled madrone trees. We could see San Francisco Bay, the Oakland Hills, Mt. Tamalpais and Sonoma valley from the top of the overlook. The surrounding hills and valley teemed with most every shade of green as a result of the …
We’re slowly getting familiar with the neighborhoods on the east side of Sonoma: broad streets, lush greenery, huge oak and magnolia trees, pocket lanes, houses with broad-covered porches for summer evenings. Each street quickly ends into the hills above town where more luxurious houses look down on us townies. We’ll explore the upper reaches once …
My family celebrates the holidays in small ways: I bake “Dad’s white fruit cake,” a tradition from my childhood and reminder of our Grandma Burgess, to my brothers and sisters; we find a local Christmas tree for the house, which I trim with ornaments purchased or made throughout the years, remembering each one with little …
Another transition in process: the stability of home eludes me as we move from place to place. Our home in Boulder is meant as secondary but its lure is powerful: the brisk mountain air, the solitude, the quiet, the gathering place for family at holidays. Meanwhile, Northern California has drawn us back and friends greet …
Friends: twenty year friends (mothers of my younger son’s friends); former work colleagues who have become friends; former neighbors who remain friends; couples friends from my husband’s first job. I reconnected with several of these northern California friends the past few days as I begin life once again on the West Coast, far from Austin …
We heard a lot about Waffle House diners when we were in Austin (not a franchise we’d seen before), but since we rarely eat waffles or pancakes or chicken-fried steaks or really, most any type of diner food, we went only once—the day the movers packed our furniture for the drive to Sonoma. Here I …
Today, December 2, is our last full day in Austin after almost two years of living in this city and the state of Texas. My grandfather was born and raised on a farm about 100 miles from here and, after graduating from Columbia Law School in New York City, practiced law in Dallas for several …
I most remember my father for his walks and talks with his student-athletes, our mother and us children, and his friends. We’d extend road trips, neighborhood walks, and hiking in the Blue Mountains to be able to continue our conversations with him. I do miss him even after eight years. I am thankful for inheriting …
The walk today was delightful, although the near freezing weather confuses me as to what inner and outer clothing to wear. My torso was fine, the four layers perfect, my hands toasty with rabbit fur-lined mittens (likely not politically correct), and my head warm beneath the knit beany cap (except for my flattened post-hat hair). …
Stephen Jay Gould divides the genre of popular science writing into two modes: Galilean (intellectual essays about nature’s puzzles) and Franciscan (lyrical pieces about nature’s beauties). I am divided as I am drawn toward both men and their forms : Galileo was brave and courageous with his science while St. Francis of Assisi contributed to our …