Despite Robert Frost and New England, I have long associated birch trees with the Bay Area in California, especially the area from San Jose north to Palo Alto. When I arrived here for the first time in 1980, Silicon Valley … Continue reading The Birches of Silicon Valley
Sadly, my parents never made it to California, not permanently. The closest they got was three months in San Jose, which was long enough to enroll me in school in the fifth grade. Two things stand out from that time: … Continue reading California Dreaming
I’m not a prude, really. I’ve done my share of inappropriate behavior, mostly during my youth, for which I will be forever embarrassed. Well, maybe not forever. That’s one of the great things about growing older. The reckless acts of … Continue reading Up in Smoke
If it hasn’t been said already by poets and nature writers, let me say it now. There is nothing like winter in California. This past week in the Bay Area has been mild with temperatures in the sixties during the … Continue reading Watching a Hummingbird Land
