My friend Chris
I arrived back home Sept 19 to a whirlwind of activity: trying to find a new housemate by October 1, unpacking, cleaning, major yard work, seeing some old friends, and […]
Category Archives: Musings
My Inner Winter
Last night I was lulled to sleep by the rain. I usually can’t sleep without earplugs. Hearing rain rather than traffic reawakened my childhood desire to live closer to nature. […]
Francis Flowers & Herbs Farm
I have held off writing until I finished my summer European travel log, but am no closer to starting that. So I will instead tell you about Mark, who together […]
Reflecting on the Civil Rights Struggle
I haven’t written a proper piece for years. I told myself I had to finish my travel blog from the summer of 2018 when, in the beginning of my travels, […]
Baby Egret
So sad. I rode my bike to Shorebird Way for the second time, this time in hopes of seeing baby egrets and herons fledge. What I got was probably what […]
Goodbye, McBlack
I bought my 2008 Mazda 3 new. It was special. My first new car. Its name suggested itself when I went to the dealer to buy Mica Black touch up […]
Baby rat
Full of self recrimination and guilt, I look at your tiny carcass, moved by your small soft ears, paws fragile and clasped as if in prayer, soft gray fur. I […]
Losing Gina
In 1993, I made the acquaintance of a vivacious, bubbly young woman barely 20 years old. Gina had already lived several lives. She had been forced to give up her […]
Lost and Found on Deception Creek
I met George Gooding in 1997 just after starting my new career on the Inside Mac team at Apple. It was a big stretch for me. I’d never worked on […]
The Sawyer
Walking down Pacific Ave in Santa Cruz last Friday, I was lucky enough to stumble someone playing musical saw in front of a bronze sculpture of Tom Jefferson Scribner. During the […]
Ereshkigal
Some weeks ago I confided in my acupuncturist about the deep grief and loneliness I’d been trying not to feel of late. My usual pattern is to stay so […]
La Vie Boheme
Last night I had the opportunity to see the 20th anniversary of the Broadway musical RENT. Tears ran down my cheeks as I watched the character Angel die of AIDS. […]
Writing a Book
I wrote my last post to explain why I haven’t been writing of late. I had hoped upon coming back to the states to begin the arduous project of turning […]
Insult to Injury
When I arrived back from Europe on October 24, I was exhausted and sleep-deprived. But I’m pretty compulsive about cleaning when I first get back from a long trip, and […]
Conflicted
I was asked recently at a grief counseling session whether my missing people who have died might be tied to other events in my life. Thinking aloud, I mused that […]
My memories of Frank Freeman
I met Frank Freeman in 1997, the first year I was at Apple. He was working as an IT contractor, and was so proud to be working there. He had […]
Imbolc
I wrote the wrote and led the following ritual for the Sunnyvale UUFS to celebrate Imbolc or Candlemass, a Celtic holiday marking the beginning of spring on February 1. After the […]
I am the Lorax
Yesterday I dipped into the deep grief that’s been masked by depression over the last few months. It’s been hard to access my sadness, deeply buried and rarely excavated as […]
Why I started this blog
I always return from my travels wanting to make my home life more like my travels. To integrate habits like giving myself time to read, explore unknown urban and wild […]
Election or Bloodless Coup
I’ve been depressed since November. I’d been in Europe for the previous 6 months, having reached out several times to friends in the US for reassurance that Trump would not win. I’d […]
Weaving ancestral threads
A few weeks ago I went back to Potomac Maryland to pay my respects to my uncle Bob Cook who had passed away this summer. It was my first visit to […]
Not a Republican
Last night a friend said that Republicans are Democrats who have been robbed and that Democrats are Republicans who have been imprisoned. I woke this morning remembering a time 4 years […]
Ode to One
Last week I rescued three worms that I found while walking a well-trodden trail at Rancho San Antonio. I placed them gingerly to the side, urging them to find sanctuary. One had […]
A Polish Christmas
My father was born in Poland in 1932. He was only 7 when Germans invaded Poland, occupying the house his childhood home in Bielsko Biala. The family were forced to […]
Nick Ferentinos
Nick has been a key figure throughout my life. He was the journalism advisor for the Epitaph, the Homestead high school newspaper, on which I served for 3 years as […]
The Fallen
The last few months have been marked with the loss of very dear teachers, family, and friends. So many have passed recently that I compiled a list of fallen friends […]
A Memorial for Ilona
As soon as she was legally able, my cousin Ilona Karpinski changed her name to Kristie Ainsley. Named after my grandmother, Ilona quickly isolated herself from the family. The only […]
Lisa Karpinski 