The Life in My Years

An anthology of life

The COVID Chronicles is a series of posts relating my experiences and observations during the pandemic. I hope that this will be the final post in the series.  March 12, 2022. My wife Cora and I are having lunch at Caffe Sport in San Francisco’s North Beach, the City’s Little Italy. Caffe Sport is a …

Continue reading

The COVID Chronicles is a series of pieces that I began at the start of the pandemic. The series is a journal of one person’s experiences and impressions in an unprecedented time.  The Church Of The Misconception is an odd congregation. As religions go it’s rather new, having shown up at the start of 2020. …

Continue reading

Early in 2020, when rumors of the coronavirus became reality I began a series of posts that I called The COVID Chronicles, a journal of my own personal experiences and feelings in the midst of a global pandemic. I thought I was done with the series. “You ready to put your mask back on?” he …

Continue reading

“I’ve got some bad news and I’ve got some good news. Nothing lasts forever.” ~ Kate McGahan, author. The “where were you when” conversations. You know the ones. Somebody asks, “So where were you when…? The when is always one those consequential events, usually an unpleasant one. Life’s moments that leave stains that won’t wash …

Continue reading

Monday morning in America. Not just any Monday morning in America. The day after Super Bowl Sunday, Monday. The annual Monday when a good portion of America is recovering from some variety of hangover. Hungover from a full season of football now ended, looking at months of withdrawal until the next season begins, and the …

Continue reading

Late Friday afternoon and the week was winding down. Do COVID era weeks really wind up? Today it’s the day to day to day, Drudge. Monotony. Colorless repetition. CNN’s Erin Burnett was interviewing a couple of the big giant medical heads who’ve held sway on damn near every aspect of our daily lives. That’s not …

Continue reading

Most of California is back on lockdown and, with the exception of take out or delivery, restaurants are once again shut down. Months ago, when the pandemic was still a novelty I applauded the complete restaurant closure and criticized the torch and pitchfork rabble that was protesting the closures. With the resumption of the restaurant …

Continue reading

bologna noun bo·​lo·​gna | \ bə-ˈlō-nē also -nyə, -nə \ : a large smoked sausage of beef, veal, and pork Point Pinole Regional Shoreline is 2400 acres of scenic liberation located on the San Pablo Bay shoreline just north of the City of Richmond. The park’s web of trails leads you through meadows, past wildflowers, …

Continue reading

The signs at the beaches here in Central California, caution people to be aware of sneaker waves; “Never turn your back on the water,” they warn, lest a rogue wave wash over you and carry you out to sea.  Here in the Bay Area we know all about sneaker waves, those rare large waves that …

Continue reading

Did the minutemen really take up their muskets so 200 years later a lot of selfish people could snivel about not being able to have their nails done or hit the tennis courts or crowd together on the beach? 

We don’t know when we can get off the ropes or what our counterpunch is going to be. We have capable, dedicated men and women working on that counterpunch.

I’m up before dawn on a 50° F. morning; chilly for the Bay Area, balmy for those struggling with a side order of snow to go with their pandemic.  Wife, daughter and grandchildren are enjoying the warmth of bed.  Lexi bounces up, all tail wagging, rolling on the floor, butt in the air doggy excitement. …

Continue reading

I think there’s some value in putting down our own stories of this unprecedented moment in history, be they narratives, works of fiction, poetry, art, songs or any other record of the experience of 2020.  Years from now, decades from now, historians and students will look for stories, particularly first person, of this singular event.  …

Continue reading

%d