Uncategorized

As the world marks the centennial of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, my own thoughts recall an ordinary object – a toothbrush salvaged from the debris field surrounding the rusting hull of the great oceanliner that found its final resting place two miles below the Atlantic’s surface.

Our older cat, Futz, came home with a bloody eye. When I looked

French filmmaker Gaspar Noe, the director of the unwatchable and

A recent news story illustrates the dangers that ignorance and

When out-of-town visitors see my garden for the first time, one question that almost always arises is, "Where's the garlic?" After all, with the smell of the pungent bulb usually in the air around the South Valley, it should be a prerequisite that we grow our own garlic. And now, with the Gilroy Garlic Festival time next week, it's the perfect time to think about getting started.

We have all heard golfers talk about a

Whenever I watch the opening credits of the 1987 movie

One recent afternoon, I was talking to a local man about the

I have always been truly amazed at the tenacity and patience of wildflowers. Seeds sit on hot bone-dry ground year after desiccating year, all the while remaining viable, waiting for the right moment. “No, not this spring,” says the seed. “I'll never be able to sprout, create a flower, and most important, produce mature seeds on that paltry rainfall. I think I'll wait.”

Many of my favorite adventures began on the sofa with a map. I see a vast blank region crossed by a single lonely road and wonder: “What the heck is out there?” One day, the lure is too great to resist and I go. The experience is always so much more than just another Sunday drive.