“Musicians don’t retire; they stop when there's no more music in them”                                                                                                  Louis  Armstrong Read More

Retiring to do what you want to do ... or are you already doing it by working? Read More

As the 1960s sunk into the next decade, I decided to leave San Francisco, to “get my head together.” A friend knew I had carpentry skills and suggested I contact a woman who owned property in the Colorado Rockies above Boulder. She needed a handyman. A cabin was available. That seemed attractive. To get away… Read More

The fire was blowing along the ridgeline in our direction.  Trees were candling—igniting and throwing off firebrands--burning hunks of wood. Now the fire had jumped the vast concrete firebreak of Hwy 24 into the Oakland Hills.  Read More

I used to love the evening cookouts or sleeping under the stars that we did lakeside throughout my summers as a camper at the National Music Camp (now Interlochen Arts Camp) in Interlochen, MI from 1964-1969. The girl’s side was by Lake Wabakanetta (Duck Lake) and we had a large expanse of sand with a… Read More

The Peacock Both my husband and I bear the scars of early burns.  Mine is under my chin and dates from a very minor,  almost funny childhood accident;  his scar is on his arm, dates from the hour of his birth, and tells a more somber tale. As I child I loved summer camp and… Read More

Fireman Phil came to Marble Elementary School.  We first-graders were gathered in the school gym, seated cross-legged on the floor.  What makes a fire?  How do you stop it?  Do you throw water on oil (no!)?  This is a fire extinguisher. If you are on fire, don’t run–drop and roll.  It’s been over 60 years… Read More

Excerpted from my memoir, There Was a Fire Here. October 20, 1991. Oakland, California — There was a fire here. It started high above our house, on a hill facing west. No one knows for certain how it started, but a human hand set something burning and started The Fire. The fire incinerated, it eliminated; it… Read More

Now wild fires are added to the list of climate change based disasters, which may have been avoidable if only Gore had become president … and if only we had listened. Read More

There are no words Read More