When I turned 65, a mere few years ago, I spent my birthday with good friends at a day-long Zen meditation retreat in the Marin Headlands. It was glorious, peaceful, fulfilling, su... Read More
The problem with having to write a column to deadline weeks in advance of publishing is that if I choose a topical subject to do with current events, so much is happening in the wo... Read More
I’ve become that lady. The one who sits on her front steps, waiting for people to walk by, so I can charmingly plead … or beg … to pet their companion pups. Yes, I’ve becom... Read More
I just can’t help it: I must pursue this line of reasoning: If the fowl royal of Thanksgiving — the ruler of the feasting table — is the turkey (which I always thought should... Read More
Peter and I have lived in San Francisco for seven years now, and it’s time for a summation, a look back. You might say I have a seven–year “itch” to explain the shape of th... Read More
I simply cannot help it: Take certain people out to the ballgame, buy them some peanuts and Crackerjack, and they’re happy as can be. But take me out under the stars to see a gro... Read More
After The Ball — a popular waltz written in 1891 by Charles K. Harris — tells the story of a gentleman who sees his beloved kissing another man at a festive party, whereupon he... Read More
“Art for sale! Art for sale! “yelled a child’s strident voice, over the calm of our street. Initially reacting like the general curmudgeon that I am when it comes... Read More
He has a peculiar orange face and a lumpish, doughy body he tries to contain within costly suits of broadcloth and grey sharkskin, dark blue blazers, and crisp white shirts. His ac... Read More
For Christmas this past year, my darling husband gave me a fancy-schmantzy Fitbit! Little did I know how much the little noodge of a wrist thingy would figure in my recovery from k... Read More
When I told my Marina Times editor I was producing the March column by magic with a wave of my newly acquired wand, she probably thought me crazier than usual, but I am here to tel... Read More
Overheard at Big Basin National Redwood Forest: A little boy complained to his doting grandparents that his picnic sandwich bread still had its crusts. The wise grandmother counter... Read More
The house is so much quieter now. Neater. And much cleaner. No click-click-clicks of tiny hard nails on the shiny wood floor; no soft whimpers or whines saying, “Pick me up, ... Read More
As I write this December column, we have voted — or at least half the country has — to change the way our nation does business, and the bull is no longer merely visiting the... Read More
It seems unbelievable our country will soon elect a new president. After an endless, exhausting, perturbing campaign — one that has stretched our patience to the limit and distur... Read More