My dear sweet friend, Bess Harter, died five years ago this week. She’d endured years of breast cancer and its morph into metastatic brain cancer, etc., standard and experimental treatments, and hope and sometimes despair, exhaustion and rebirth. Bess was kind, smart, and loving, a dedicated mother and wife, loyal friend, gardener extraordinaire, collector of …
Point Lobos: Saturday hike My husband ran the Big Sur International Marathon on Sunday, his fourth. I’ve now done four of the weekend’s distances: the 21-mile run (called the Power Walk when I walked the distance in 2001); the 9-mile loop around Point Lobos, and the 10.6 miler (twice), which starts (usually) at a restaurant …
Pride Run Half Marathon (Phoenix) 3/25/2017 The existential question: Does a PR count if the effort was so tough that at each mile marker I wanted never to run (or at least race) again? My husband says the outcome or results (1:47:52 or 8:13 min/mile pace), my best half marathon time, ever, justify the pain …
Pitch black, 1:30 a.m. I park the car, making sure there are no candy wrappers or lipstick or lotions whose smells might entice bears to break in a window. We cross the darkened road and walk the hundred yards to the sign, “Mt. Whitney Portal”. We weigh our packs on the grocer-scale hanging below the …
Books about Nature My intended focus during 2016 was to read about nature (as a precursor to writing about nature) while learning from non-fiction works and seeking enjoyment and perspective from fiction writing. In retrospect, my list of books read reveals some surprises: my non-fiction reading was centered around four areas: nature, health/sports/nutrition, autobiography/biography, and …
Sunrise at Ventura Beach I was awake at midnight and at 3:00 a.m., mesmerized by the super moon sparkling on the Pacific Ocean outside our motel window and the high waves crashing against the sandy beach. The alarm sounded at 5:00 a.m., the sky pitch black after the orange orb slipped beneath the water. Two …
On March 7, 2006, my father died. Only weeks before, amidst the deep throbbing pain of colorectal cancer, his mind wracked with morphine-induced hallucinations, and his voice raspy, Dad dictated a note to my next older sister, Janet. The message was eloquent in its simplicity: “We promise to take care of Mom in the manner …
House originally built in 1555, updated mid-nineteenth century. We scheduled a weekend visit to Görlitz, the easternmost town in Germany located on the Lusatian Neisse River along the border of Germany and Poland, to see its architectural heritage. With a rich history of being conquered and held by various kingdoms, emperors, and states, the village …
Glory and Alex ready for the fruits of their several months’ labor. My son and daughter-in-law planned an utterly surprising (to me), belated birthday (cum retirement) gathering for me in San Francisco with long-time friends on Saturday July 23. I was overwhelmed to say the least by their thoughtfulness and love. Molly (we’re in almost …
Today turned out to be a perfect day for a hike. I unexpectedly had a block of five hours mid-day, the right amount of time to drive to the trailhead of Brainard Lake in the Indian Peaks Wilderness area, hike several miles, and return home before late afternoon events. The smokey air from the recent …