I don’t have any hobbies, at least in the sense most people understand them. Hobbies generally require time, tools or equipment and some level of skill. Hobbies are considered a good way to pass time, maintain an active, alert mind and stay healthy. There are people who paint, garden, collect, er, collectibles, restore classic […]

   If you drew a half-circle on a map that captured the forest fires we drove out of a week ago and the oil spill that occurred earlier this week off the Orange County coast, our house would now be half-circumscribed by two man-made disasters. “One if by land, two if by sea,” would be […]

   It wasn’t that Carol had been awarded a grand prize – for her and a guest –  that had me thinking it was a scam; it was more a case of it not being a scam that had me hoping it was. Three days at a wellness spa in either the invigorating desert air […]

   Carol’s daughter was in the midst of a search for a specific ottoman that had eventually turned into a quest. Every time she thought she located the piece, it turned out to be a phantom. Given my standard daily posture, I know how important an ottoman can be. Heck, an entire empire was named […]

   For the second day in a row, we started Happy Hour early, at a cozy lakeside café nestled among the pines and close to our cabin. Carol wimped in with an order for iced tea, which did have the salutary effect of eliciting from our waiter the only live bear story we were to […]

   Almost nothing has worked out for our Lake Tahoe getaway the way we were expecting. The fires threatening the entire lake area have diminished, and evacuation orders have been rescinded. Air quality has been good since our arrival, the skies are cobalt blue and the lake itself is pristine emerald green and there’s no […]

   Between Los Angeles and Bakersfield on our way north to Napa last week, we passed no less than two wide swaths of fire-damaged hills. Later on that same drive, we passed a number of fire trucks addressing a fire that had recently licked its way to the edge of CA 4 near Martinez. Traveling […]

   My right eye has been weepy of late. As with most physical developments that don’t cause pain, my remedy is to ignore it, and then live with it. Carol, ever on the alert for my style of preventative medicine, will pick up on any physical anomaly (primarily as it has to do with hair, […]

   The good news was that Carol’s grandson’s soccer game was near our favorite San Clemente Italian restaurant. The bad news was that the game ended at the regular dinner hour. On a Sunday. As we drove past the restaurant, the entrance looked like a Best Buy just before opening on Black Friday. We drove […]

   This past week marks the third anniversary of Carol and my first trip to Europe together, and Facebook is flooding our feeds with photographic memories. I’m happy to see them, because they are in sharp contrast to the memories my mind carries around with me. It’s clear from the photos that we’ve seen a […]