“… blogging about life, travel, books, food and the outdoors”
Mother Nature puts on a show at Black Butte Lake
Snow isn’t usually the focal point when the highest elevation of the hike is 764 feet. But it was on this last Saturday of February. The bitter cold storm that inundated all of California brought the white stuff to sea level. While there were splotches of snow along...
Paradise embracing a future full of recreation in healthy forests
Paradise is thriving. All one has to do is listen to Dan Efseaff to know this is true. Efseaff, who has more than 20 years of experience as a restoration ecologist and land manager, is district manager for the Paradise Recreation and Park District. It’s a job he took...
Ideas for helping every author you know or like
I’m often asked what my next book will be about. I smile and say I have a couple of ideas. Which is true. It’s also true that being an author is not the route to becoming wealthy except for a handful of people. It doesn’t matter if you go the indie route or a...
Book Review: Gloria Steinem’s words as relevant today as in 1983
It’s not a good thing when you read a book that came out 40 years ago and the same problems outlined within the pages are still happening today. I found Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions (Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1983) by Gloria Steinem to be a page turner....
Mother Nature puts on a show at Black Butte Lake
Snow isn’t usually the focal point when the highest elevation of the hike is 764 feet. But it was on this last Saturday of February. The bitter cold storm that inundated all of California brought the white stuff to sea level. While there were splotches of snow along...
Museum captures history of California’s missions
While it’s possible to find a slice of California’s mission history throughout much of the state, the one place that captures all 21 of these sites is in Sonoma County. It’s appropriate that the California Missions Museum is tucked into a back corner of the Cline...
‘Junky’ neighborhood a delightful example of artistic creativity
Babe Ruth, Batman and a mermaid all live on the same street in Sebastopol. So do a lot of other sculptures that aren’t as easily identifiable. These are all the artistic creations of Patrick Amiot and Brigitte Laurent. He designs what he calls “junk art” and she...
Lake Tahoe to lose key advocate when Feinstein retires
Growing up in the Bay Area it would be hard not to at least know of Dianne Feinstein. I was in eighth grade in 1978 when she became mayor of San Francisco after the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. I’m sure I didn’t know who she was...
Bidwell museum an education about founder of Chico
If it weren’t for John and Annie Bidwell, Chico likely would not be the city that it is. Panel after panel, exhibit after exhibit explores these early California pioneers who transformed this swath of Northern California into an agriculture oasis, with a university,...
New vehicle is like learning to drive all over again
I should have known better. I should have known I was buying and not just looking. Well, I knew I was buying this month. I just didn’t know I would be putting down a deposit on my looking day. Sigh …. Like any vehicle shopper I had a few criteria about what I...
Book Review: ‘The Year of the Puppy’ great for dog lovers
It’s usually a definitive “no” when it comes to books and movies about dogs. I’m emotionally unable to deal with any sadness even when the dogs aren’t my own. The Year of the Puppy: How Dogs Become Themselves (Penguin Random House, 2022) was different. On some...
On Twitter
Trump hit with criminal charges in New York, a first for a US ex-president https://www.reuters.com/world/us/urgent-trump-hit-with-criminal-charges-new-york-first-us-ex-president-new-york-2023-03-30/
