Rustic Bay Area wine region features free tastings

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CONTRACOSTATIMES.COM: November 25, 2011

It’s become a bit of a tradition. Whenever there’s a birthday, my gaggle of girlfriends heads to the wine country.

“Big deal — what woman doesn’t like wine,” you say? Well, this is where the story gets interesting.

We’ve found a little wine region where tastings are free, the farms are still rustic and country roads lace the gently rolling hills of a rich, fertile valley.

Did I mention it’s just 45 minutes from Oakland? It’s the Suisun Valley Wine Country — looking more like the Ponderosa than the glitzy wine regions we’re accustomed to seeing. And it’s dotted with produce stands, nut farms and family-owned vineyards, where you can chat with the growers and winemakers. Continue reading →

American dream realized at Montclair eatery

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OAKLAND TRIBUNE: November 11, 2011

Anyone who doubts that America is still the land of opportunity has only to look at Jose Trinidad Garcia, the new owner of Viva Voce Café at 5761 Thornhill Drive in Montclair.

“Trini,” as his friends call him, didn’t speak a word of English when he fled El Salvador’s devastating civil war at the urging of his mother in 1984. Continue reading →

Sonoma Wine Country: Splendid in Autumn

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HILLS NEWSPAPERS: November 11, 2011

When you think of autumn leaves, New England’s fiery maples and brilliant birch come to mind.

But here on the West Coast, we have our own fall color. It peaks more toward winter and is every bit as beautiful as Maine or Vermont. I’m talking about the Bay Area wine regions, where the leaves on the vines blush shades of burgundy and gold as they prepare to sleep silently until spring. The holidays are a cacophony of color for grape-growing regions such as Napa, Sonoma, Fairfield and Livermore. It’s hard to pick a favorite, but if pressed for an answer, I’ll say Sonoma. Continue reading →

Occupy Oakland: Time to break camp

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MONTCLARION: November 11, 2011

The fall of frustration is turning into the winter of discontent as Oakland bumbles its way through the latest round of civil disobedience. We can’t get a break in this town.

I took a stroll through Occupy Oakland the other day — and was, quite frankly, disappointed. I expected to see a lenticular cloud of pot smoke above “Oscar Grant Plaza” but the air was still and the campers were quiet. I guess 3 p.m. is early when you’ve been up all night.

Still, I can’t help but wonder if the whole thing will fizzle out when the weather turns foul. I hope so. These folks need to break camp and figure out a plan that supports the 99 percent — not drives them away. Continue reading →

Football and Religion: The Connection is Real

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My son on the big screen at the U of O Ducks game

MONTCLARION: November 4, 2011

I see why folks equate football with religion. I’m not talking Tim Tebow here, although his reverence before Bronco games has led to a new term for public prayer called “Tebowing.”

I’m talking about the unparalleled beauty of a ballpark in fall and the spirit that fills its fans. For the Cal Bears, this year, it’s AT&T Park — where the stadium is awash in blue and gold with a backdrop of ships on the sparkling Bay.

In Oregon, it’s Autzen Stadium, where I’m penning this piece right now. Continue reading →

Happy Wanderer: Florida Panhandle a seafood lover’s heaven

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Photographer Elaine Warner captures five friendly dolphins following the fishermen

HILLS NEWSPAPERS: October 28, 2011

The oysterman’s face was ruddy — the color of Georgia clay or the leaves of an oak tree in autumn.

He motored up to our group and tied his boat to the dock.

“Y’all ready to go out?” he asked in a drawl thick as Tupelo honey. Captain Doug had four fishing rods and two long wooden poles that looked like giant chopsticks. They were for pulling up oysters.

We scrambled for a seat that didn’t have fish guts or oyster juice on it and braced ourselves for the bouncy 20-minute trip to the oyster bars in Apalachicola Bay. This part of the gulf has some of the richest, most productive fishing grounds in the country, and — despite what you may have heard — it wasn’t affected by the oil spill. Continue reading →

Town Crier: Ghosts are everywhere this time of year

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MONTCLARION: October 28, 2011

The ratio of humans to ghosts in this world is unknown.

That’s probably a good thing, knowing how spirits can violate one’s personal space.

“Most of them are friendly,” a ghost hunter once told me, “but they do like to make mischief.”

In some cases, a gaggle of ghosts can team up like they do on the USS Hornet in Alameda. Having roamed the ship with two ghost experts, I’ve heard all the stories and seen how specters suck the heat out of that drafty old ship with their presence. Continue reading →

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Photo by Karl Mondon

CONTRA COSTA TIMES: OCTOBER 28, 2011

Brother Michael Meister knows where all the bodies are buried — and at Halloween, that’s a good thing.

The Saint Mary’s College theology and religious studies professor has lived on the bucolic Moraga campus for 30 years and is known as the resident storyteller. Things that go bump in the night are his specialty at this time of year.

“I tell all the stories as though they’re God’s holy truth!” he says with a grin, adding that a little embellishment adds strength to the stories, all of which have threads of truth. The ghostly tours are for Saint Mary’s students only. Continue reading →

Saint Mary’s College professor inspired by Gandhi

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SAINT MARY’S MAGAZINE: October, 2011

Kusum Singh sits in a sun-kissed corner of her kitchen with the warmth of a woman completely at peace. At 78 and newly-retired from a 27-year teaching career at Saint Mary’s College, she’s entering a stage where she can listen more clearly to her heart. “In every little thing, I find peace and joy,” said Singh, who spent much of her academic life studying the work of Gandhi. “I used to have to prepare so much for class. Now I just sit and enjoy my reading and writing.”  Continue reading →

Food and craft collective coming to Montclair

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MONTCLARION: OCTOBER 21, 2011

Folks have long complained that Montclair needs a mini Berkeley Bowl – with sustainably raised fish, meat and poultry. “Why should we drive to Berkeley,” they ask, “when there are empty store-fronts right here?

Say hello to the Montclair Collective, scheduled to open Nov. 8 in the long-shuttered Score site in the Montclair mini-mall. Local photographer Reenie Raschke and her husband, Greg, are starting with locally made and packaged foods and crafts. By early 2012 they plan to add fish, meat and poultry to the collective. Continue reading →