I lost a close friend this holiday season. Unexpected. Unthinkable. Devastating. Another dear friend left some time ago, moving to Maine....

Way back before the twenty-first century began, in 1999, there was an extraordinary garden store in Santa Barbara, Smith & Hawken, where...

Lost in translation in a QR Code nation. Weird sensation Increasing presence in my everyday life of a two-dimensional square made up of...

"There are a lot of words meaning thanks. Some you can only whisper. Others you can only sing. The pewee whistles instead. The snake...

I know they consider me a foreigner… And maybe I am. In a way, they are too. Those Texas girls. I return to my stomping grounds there...

The Twin Bill published today, the first day of the 2021 World Series. So many great baseball stories! Especially moving, the poignant...

“Green.” My toddler, wearing pint-sized Tony Llama cowboy boots, uttered this one-word reply to “What kind of ice cream would you like?”...

Join me at the San Diego Memoir Writers Association where I'll be talking with a dynamic panel of local authors to discuss our process -...

Crossing the First Street Bridge one sunshine-filled day recently, I glanced west. The view of Point Loma and the sparkling waters of the...

On my radar…an architect, an actress and an unbelievably awesome vocalist – all women! First, one of British drama’s royalty, Nicola...

“…the days grow short when you reach September” September ushers in the Ember Months. I don’t remember when I first heard the phrase, a...

I am in three books clubs now. I do not have a library card. Chesapeake, granddaughter number five, suggested a joint book club where she...

Her name is Chesapeake. Named for the Chesapeake Bay where her parents fell in love. She is the adorable red head, the fifth of my five...

The burly hunk of a man, a thatch of coarse flaxen hair sticking out from under his straw hat on the right side, concluded his...

A case of the dressing room giggles which sometimes turned into guffaws may have been the most fun I’ve had in a couple of years… What is...

A quiet morning in the garden Quiet, save for an occasional chirp or plane's low hum The weathered gate closed The wind gentle The iron...

In the year 2000, the International Ergonomics Association Executive Council identified three main characteristics known as Ergonomic...

My birthday this year was a bit of blur nestled in the midst of Mother’s Day, three family birthday celebrations, one Master of Arts...

Our mask-nation is gradually unveiling itself. An awkwardness permeates as we cope with “to wear or not to wear.” For some, masks dangle...

A new year begins for me each May. And the Matilija Poppies bloom. My life began in May just about forever ago. While many around me mope...