Two years ago, my grandniece Eliza Judy was born.  I haven’t met her yet, but the postings show a smiling and adorable little girl, hugging her stuffed animals, running with toddler steps, dressed in a cute Halloween costume, laughing when parents or grandparents interact with her.  She is healthy, well-off and well-loved, bright and radiating hope for the future.  Read More

Nancy, our new office manager, was pushing hard on everyone in the clinic to sign up for a rafting trip.  She had gone with the same outfit before and assured us it would be wonderful.  We would all simply blast off in carpools after work on Friday for the 7- hour trip to the Klamath… Read More

“You will always be friends” the counselor told us.  We were too entwined and besides, she had seen it repeatedly in the women’s community, a fluidity of friends and lovers staying connected despite everything.  I said nothing but promised myself, “Oh no, we won’t”. Read More

Veterans were synonymous with WWII when I was a child, the good war against the unimaginably evil Hitler but also the horror of the atom bomb.  I don’t think I was the only one who wished for “world peace” when I blew out birthday candles or participated in student United Nations. Read More

The library was on the basement floor of that old 1934 two-story dark brick building in a small windowless room, maybe 12 by 15 feet.  Its walls were lined with bookshelves, neatly organized into the Dewey decimal system Read More

Imagine being in that stadium with thousands of other university students and faculty, all roused up, politically aware, wanting a path forward.  The emotional energy was contagious and overwhelming.  Surely the concerns of so many people coming together could not be denied.  Read More

Fireman Phil came to Marble Elementary School.  We first-graders were gathered in the school gym, seated cross-legged on the floor.  What makes a fire?  How do you stop it?  Do you throw water on oil (no!)?  This is a fire extinguisher. If you are on fire, don’t run–drop and roll.  It’s been over 60 years… Read More

The fire was blowing along the ridgeline in our direction.  Trees were candling—igniting and throwing off firebrands--burning hunks of wood. Now the fire had jumped the vast concrete firebreak of Hwy 24 into the Oakland Hills.  Read More

Monsoons are more than just rainy days.  They are the wet season, the dry season’s counterpoint.  The rains are intense downpours, not drizzly affairs, and they sweep in ferociously. They are the annual water renewal that makes life possible.  Of course, that is changing along with the rest of the climate, but still. The small… Read More

Exploring the unexpected. Read More