The Sage Canyon Loop — Highway 128 to the Silverado Trail to Highway 121 and back again — has so much to offer wine enthusiasts that it’s really not possible to see everything in one trip. But with its convenient eastern entrance to the Napa...
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I remember Mom making potato salad at the first hint of summer. The kitchen was steamy and hot with boiling potatoes. How she peeled them while still hot I’ll never understand. She was amazing. I can still taste her salad to this day. This recipe...
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A lot has changed since I last wrote about my struggles, back on May 1. I wish the Yellow-Brick Road was a part of it. It’s not. As you may or may not recall, I was in a lockdown. A few days ago, it had...
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I answered my ringing work phone with the standard salutation, “This is Julie.” “This is the last time I’m going to read this to you,” the anonymous caller responded. I immediately recognized my father’s voice. “’I will not eat it in a box, I will...
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I’ve written many columns about my dad and when I’ve written about him being one of the first Special Assistants for Minority Affairs in the U.S. Navy and his 30 years of service, I’m filled with pride. After retiring from the Navy he ran a...
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It’s not like I didn’t know I’d turn 54 someday. Well, hopefully I’d hit 54, unless I got hit by a bus or lightning first. “Hit” is truly how this birthday felt, like hurtling face-first into cement. Yeah. It stung. You see, last week, I...
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This year, after celebrating many Father’s Days for others, I will be celebrated for the first time. On the official day, Owen will be five months and three days old. From the moment I knew the seed was planted and a new life was growing,...
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I don’t think I’m the only person who likes to read obituaries, but am I the only one reads them no matter which newspaper I’m reading, in any city or state? I read the front page first, then look for the obits. Some folks think...
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“Never let yourself get outnumbered.” — My father My father Rob, 91 this June, is an irascible man.  I don’t remember when he wasn’t.  He was 34 when they adopted me and the pictures show my handsome father grinning with a fat little human slug creature...
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Fathers hold the secret to approval.  They hold the validation of the child’s soul.  It doesn’t matter that they are imperfect (drunk, stupid, selfish, absent).  We forgive them and crave their approval. I have a special box that keeps the tie I bought for my...
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For 50 years, I visited my father in Chapel Hill and then Durham, North Carolina. Now I’ve moved my dad, in the evening of his life, to Davis. There’s not much reason for me to return to North Carolina, except sentimentalism. Still, I bring a...
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I wake up early all week long and spend the bulk of my day hovering over a laptop in my apartment. Sometimes I don’t go outdoors until my “shift” ends, which is usually between 4 and 7 p.m., depending on the weight of the news day. I...
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I remember Dad being proud of my brother and me. He loved us both very much — each in our own way. And although he did not have much patience with mom, he loved her too. I remember his love as a rough type of...
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Father’s Day this year is a pretty big deal to me. It will be the second Father’s Day that my brother and I will be spending with our dad since our parents decided to go through with their divorce.  My parent’s divorce was three years...
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This week, Roger Goodell received a letter from Congress urging him to prompt Washington Redskin’s owner Dan Snyder to change the team name.  The word “redskin” is a highly offensive word to Native Americans, similar to the N-bomb used as a racial slur against black...
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Hello, my dear iPeep friends! For some reason I think Gumby and Pokey used to exclaim “Hidy ho,” or that might just be a hallucination from lack of oxygen.  I don’t remember if I told you about my most recent “suffocating experience,” but I think...
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I think I’m going to shoot heroin this weekend.* According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, heroin use is just as detrimental to society and has the same medical benefits (absolutely zero) as marijuana. Oh, and guess what? Marijuana is worse for you than cocaine and...
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Knock knock.  Who’s there?  Matt.  Matt who?  Your buddy Matt, who will never judge you, you can always depend on him, he will always love you, make you feel special, make you feel like the only one, and always make you feel good!  Awwww.  By the...
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Wildwood, a popular Jersey shore beach town, has voted to ban sagging pants. Tourists complained about seeing underwear and arses as young men strolled along the boardwalk so the city has banned pants sagging more than three inches below the waist showing skin or underwear....
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