Look out for the lady bugs

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MONTCLARION NEWSPAPER – February 6,  2009

HERE IN THE HILLS, we do things differently. While the rest of the country counts on the groundhog to predict the ladybugs2arrival of spring, we look to the lady bug. Indeed, the gals have already gathered at their annual convention site in Redwood Park Girls Camp. One has to wonder if they pick this place to be gender specific, or for its dew-kissed, aphid rich soil. There’s also the matter of privacy, as the lady bugs are mating here and being ladies would prefer that the whole world weren’t watching. To this end, I would recommend that the Girls Camp trail be closed during lady bug mating season. The East Bay Regional Park District does this for newts in Tilden Park and newts aren’t nearly as cute.

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THE HAPPY WANDERER – SEGWAY IN THE CITY

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CONTRACOSTATIMES.COM January 30, 2009

Ginny Prior and Steve Wozniak playing Segway polo

Ginny Prior and Steve Wozniak playing Segway polo

IN MINNEAPOLIS, a popular attraction for tourists is the Magical History Tour. It’s a clever reference to something old (the Beatles) and something new — seeing the city on Segways. (The name also reminds me of hippies flying through time on a psychedelic carpet, but that’s another story.)

I’ve been a fan of the Segway since my first encounter with the futuristic machines in Oakland’s Redwood Park. A local entrepreneur, Drew Foster, was taking folks on an off-road tour through the tall trees and the sight was —— quite frankly — something out of Twilight Zone.

Yet “humans on a stick,” as one company calls Segway riders, have the best of both worlds. They can cover more miles than a pedestrian and without the aching arches. It’s really one of the best ways I’ve found to see a city. Continue reading →

History Channel provides fodder for cocktail parties

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MONTCLARION NEWSPAPER – JANUARY 30,  2009

PARDON ME FOR feeling giddy. I’ve had an awakening, of sorts, since our last correspondence. I now realize that history is my destiny; that the secret to happiness is in knowledge — that can only be found on the History Channel.

Last week I shared with you the life-altering event that was my decision to sign up for satellite TV. Change indeed! In just one short week, I went from being a 10-channel loser to becoming an expert on the conspiracy to kill Martin Luther King, President Kennedy, Lee Harvey Oswald AND Hitler.

Suddenly I’m being invited to more cocktail parties than I can possibly attend. It seems everyone knows of my insatiable thirst for knowledge and my newfound ability to light up a room with my conversation. Continue reading →

Change is the buzz word

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MONTCLARION NEWSPAPER – JANUARY 15 2009

IF “CHANGE” IS THE BUZZ WORD for 2009, then Montclair Village will have no trouble keeping up. Faster then the business association can print new maps, the list of shops keeps changing. Take the sudden closure of Jamba Juice, where even the sign outside was spirited away under cover of darkness. “Actually, we knew Jamba Juice was leaving,” said the head of the Montclair Business Association, Roger Vickery. “It’s how they did it which was surprising.” Continue reading →

Rejuvenation in the Dead of Winter

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MONTCLARION NEWSPAPER – JANUARY 9 2009

It’s the dead of winter. What else is there to say? There’s nothing exciting on the horizon, unless you’re a groundhog.

But perhaps we should look to the woodchuck for tips on handling post-holiday blues. Perhaps, like our furry friend, we should burrow and rest – before the pace picks up again in spring.

With this in mind, I made a reservation at the Whale Watch Inn in Gualala last weekend. A light rain was falling as I pulled up to the lodge, a forested retreat softly outlined in lights. Soothing music and a warm fire greeted me in the lobby, along with a glass of my favorite wine. Continue reading →

THE HAPPY WANDERER – CROSS COUNTRY SKIING

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CONTRACOSTATIMES.COM January 2, 2009

THERE COMES A time in everyone’s life when serenity trumps the party scene. When following the crowd is no longer cool. When, as Huey Lewis put it, it’s hip to be square.

As a skier, I figured this out a few years back at Sugar Bowl. Carving my way down a popular run, a whistle stopped me dead in my tracks. Two hotshot patrollers were marking an obstacle. We’re the fashion police, one of them yelled. You’re under arrest! I blushed as it dawned on me that my hot pink ski pants might no longer be in vogue.

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We’re all having an Epiphany

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MONTCLARION NEWSPAPER – JANUARY 2, 2008

NOW THAT IT’S January, let me be the first to wish you a Happy Epiphany. And while this is largely a religious observance, our family sees it as a holiday grace period.

For instance, we take down the tree on the Epiphany, providing it hasn’t already fallen down. It’s much lighter this way, because the needles have dropped into little brown piles on the floor. So have some of the ornaments.

We’ve also made Jan. 6 our new deadline for getting out greeting cards. That gives us 12 extra days of Christmas in which to chronicle our family’s many achievements in a card with a photo of the kids and the cat.

Finally, it’s an opportunity to have one last holiday party before tax time comes and spoils all the fun. I’ll be going to an Epiphany party and I hope you will too. After all, isn’t that New Year’s diet getting a little old already?

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Show will go on on Picardy

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MONTCLARION NEWSPAPER – DECEMBER 19, 2008

AN OPEN LETTER to my Oakland neighbors: I’ve been noticing the effort you’ve put into decorating your yards for the holidays and I want to thank you. The cascading blue lights are magical and the treetop twinklers are heavenly. I get goose bumps when I see icicle lights on the rooftops and candy canes lining your walks.

So you can see why I was concerned when a reader called with an alarming report: The lights were not up on Oakland’s Christmas Lane this year. Continue reading →