If one were to draw a cross section through the cities east of San Francisco Bay it might look like this. First of course, there would be the Bay itself. Then to the east, the gradual rise of the “flats”, peppered with modest bungalows and apartments, then the sharp climb of the East Bay Hills, … More The Green Seam- My Pandemic Therapist
Tucked all around San Francisco Bay are curious little villages that surround old industrial centers. You can find these surviving villages in places like Point Richmond, ,Alviso, and Crockett. And in San Francisco, there is the old Dogpatch neighborhood centered along Third Street near 20th. I had always been intrigued by this little corner of … More Dogpatch and Doctors
Each day for the last 6 years , I have taken the train to downtown Oakland , and headed up to the 13th floor of the office building where I work. I sit in a corner, with a panoramic view of downtown, and the Bay Area beyond. It’s a nice view. Over the past 6 … More Field Notes- Downtown Oakland- A City In 9 Movements
Maintaining a blog is a lot of work. But it also a labor of love, and sometimes, the juice to write and compose pieces is simply not there, and that’s been the case for me the last few months. But I have been keeping a list of topics I’d like to write about, and am … More Palm Springs- Where The Grass is Sometimes Greener
My navigator, a friendly sounding woman housed within my I-Phone, had told me my destination was on the left. I looked………and it was a 7-11. I had already gotten lost once in the Phoenix sprawl, and this was definitely not the library I was looking for. She had directed me to a branch library, and … More Gimme Shelter- A Southwest Road Trip : Arizona
I love to walk. Am fascinated with history and genealogy. And who isn’t fond of a good temple? Taken together , its no surprise I periodically enjoy a stroll through a cemetery. And there is perhaps no better place to go than a small town just south of San Francisco. Amble #23 took me to … More Angels and Ashes- A Walk Thru Colma
We are lucky enough to have a second home, part-time, in Palm Springs. The bulk of the time, we visit in the “high season”; November thru April roughly. But each year, we do go down at least once in the heart of the summer, or the “low season”, and this year, it was around the … More Tram To The Stars- Hiking The San Jacintos
I recently thought as part of this series, I would begin tackling some of the peaks in th Bay Area. I got that idea as I was over in the neighboring town of Albany, staring at Albany Hill , an odd little protuberance near the Bay. And I thought this little hill, more mound than … More Albany and Her Bulbs
Last year, I went to a carnival. It had been eons since I had been on a “midway”, and I stopped at one of those toss the ping-pong-ball-in-the-fish-bowl games. You got 3 balls, and my first toss nearly went in. Toss 2 missed a bit more, toss 3 was atrocious. I paid for another 3 … More A Day At The Golf Course- The Pleasure And The Pain
Last Tuesday , I had time to duck in to SF MOMA and catch a couple of shows ; the painter Mark Bradford, and a show on Buckminster Fuller. It dawned on me the night before there were also going to be protests and marches the following day- it was May Day. So this amble was … More May Day Mashup- Bucky, Hippies, And The 99%
urban ambles 