Like many, I went home for the holidays to be with family. While home , I took a walk in my old “hometown downtown”- Syracuse, New York. It conjured up a lot of memories walking for a few miles along the Creekwalk, a newly opened path through the heart of the old city. Here’s … More Syracuse Rising- A Rust Belt Love Story
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
It is hard to imagine what it must have been like to begin to fashion the urban realm in wild California in the mid 19th century. The place was one of the remotest on earth, with its very existence driven, at least in these parts, by the discovery of gold. It was a raw place,a … More Hillside Bohemia
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
Who doesn’t love a parade. Last week, I strolled around Lake Merritt in Oakland, and took part in one of urbanity’s finer tradition; promenading. The urban promenade ennobles any city. Ideally it is a multi-use way that allows people to stroll, run, bike, meet and greet , and of course, watch everyone else doing the … More Around Lake Merritt
Next weekend is the Bay To Breakers. For those not from these parts, that is the 7 or so mile race from , you guessed it, the bay to the ocean. I am not participating in the race, but in tribute, Hike #12 finds us heading from the Bay to the Ocean. I chose not … More Bay To Breakers
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%
This is hike number 7 in my series of 50 hikes during my 50th year. A couple of posts back, I mentioned this book, which I just finished reading: The premise is a Minnesota woman whose life basically has gone off the tracks. She has just divorced, lost her mother, is estranged from the rest … More The Pacific Crest Trail
urban ambles 