OAKLANDTRIBUNE.COM: May 10, 2013
In the push to compete for your tourist dollars, Monterey has always been known for its outreach. But some of its best ambassadors have not one arm, but eight, to embrace you.
The giant Pacific octopus is one of the biggest draws to an area that attracts some four million tourists a year. With its reddish brown body and huge bulbous head, this crafty creature gets plenty of attention at the Monterey Bay Aquarium — especially at feeding time. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: May 10, 2013
Alarms, patrols and reinforced doors. These are a few of our favorite things as we pony up money to protect our homes. But what if we pooled our resources and formed a Crime Protection Assessment District? Sound familiar? It wasn’t that long ago that we agreed to a tax to fight fires. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: May 3, 2013
Who would have thought that denuding would be the hot topic in Oakland? Sexier than crime prevention and more topical than the weather, when Caltrans starts clearing the trees along scenic Highway 13, tongues wag. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: April 26, 2013
Half the country is mad at a groundhog and the rest of us are celebrating spring. Mother nature sure has a sense of humor.
Of course, the weather is one of our drawing cards in California. It’s why we have so many Midwestern transplants. At some point, folks throw up their hands and say “Nine months of winter is too much.” And the other three months make up the second season — called road construction. Continue reading
OAKLANDTRIBUNE.COM: April 26, 2013
Marin County’s slick PR piece invites visitors to “step out to the end of the earth.” Consider yourself lucky that the end is near.
San Rafael’s famed Lucas Valley Road off 101 is a portal to a place seductively frozen in time. Almost immediately, you’ll enter a storybook setting of white picket fences and sprawling old oaks. Carmel-colored horses graze lazily on endless acres of velvet grassland punctuated by red barns and the occasional wooden sign marked “Winery ahead.” Continue reading
MONTCLARION: April 19, 2013
Did you hear the one about the pothole that was so big — it had its own gift shop? I know … potholes are no joking matter, but I couldn’t resist a little David Letterman humor as Oakland prepares for its annual pothole blitz. Continue reading
HILLS NEWSPAPERS: April 12, 2013
I flew to McAllen, Texas, last month with one goal in mind. I wanted to see a Vermilion Flycatcher. A folded-up photo I’d cut from a bird book was packed inside my bag, next to binoculars, a hat and a five-pocket vest.
McAllen, to birders, is like the Serengeti to safari lovers. It’s a bucket-list destination with nine World Birding Centers in a major migration corridor in the Texas Rio Grande Valley. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: April 12, 2013
I’ll never forget the first night we met — you with those ugly brown pincers and me in my bare feet and PJs. You must have been as nervous as I was. You reared up your tail and made a strange clicking noise that sent me scrambling for the light.
That was 10 years ago in a living room encounter that still gives me goose bumps. But lately, you and your scorpion sidekicks have been slipping into other Montclair homes. There’s been chatter on the Montclair listserv about scorpions in bathrooms, garages, even a hat removed from storage. Continue reading
MONTCLARION: April 5, 2013
Some people know, early on, where their talents lie. In the case of Oakland’s Rebecca Ferris, her interest in hair goes back to her childhood, according to big brother Mitch. “We (my two older brothers, myself and our dad) would go to sleep and wake up with rollers and make up on,” he remembers. “I think she was around 8 years old when she did that. We have photos somewhere.” Continue reading
HILLS NEWSPAPERS: March 28, 2013
Some things in life come full-circle. Take acorns, for instance. Once used by early Californians for flour, these tannic oak offerings are making a comeback in one of California’s culinary hot spots — Sonoma. Continue reading
