I moved to the Bay Area in 1988, securing a job with an Architectural firm in San Francisco. The firm of 50 was probably 90% Asian, and for the first time in my life, I was the minority. Every Friday, a large group of co-workers would head to lunch in nearby Chinatown, and seemed to … More We Are All From Somewhere Else- A Walk Through West Berkeley
Growing up in Upstate New York meant enduring hard, tough winters. Initially, it didn’t bother me. Well, maybe my hair freezing on my walk home after swim practice did, but it was all I knew. My grandmother lived with us back then. At some point, she announced she was going to spend part of the … More Snowbirds
At some point every day, I go for a walk in my neighborhood in Berkeley. It is a modest neighborhood of mostly one-story bungalows , an occasional apartment building, and a scrappy commercial district . But every few blocks, there is a larger house or building that isn’t part of the pattern. And I am … More Neighborhood Stories- 3 Houses
This is an update to a post from last year We live on the backside Nob Hill. When you stand up at the top , near Grace Cathedral, and look south, your eye follows the canyon of the street down towards Market and the Tenderloin. Between the Tenderloin and Nob Hill, is the Tendernob. The … More The Tiny Shops of The Tendernob
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
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
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
A couple of months ago, I set out on my latest “Grand Tour” Amble. But this was no ordinary amble, no this felt more like a journey to the center of the earth. For on this day I was traveling to Google’s world headquarters, or as it has come to be known, the “Googleplex”. Here’s … More Grand Tour.15-A Journey To The Googleplex
The ambling has been continuing lately, its just the writing about it that has been absent. A busy and immensely distracted summer. But ‘Ambles carries on, with an eye towards a book deal. “Stairway Walks Of San Francisco- 6th edition”…..give me a break. We live on the west-facing side of Nob Hill. And as this … More Walking Into The Fog- A Trip To Ocean Beach
urban ambles 