Northwest Passage

If it seems spoiled, churlish and downright petty, well there you have it. Returned from a spectacular trip...something in me is asking the question "why?" Calling into question...what? The worthiness of travel? Why I travel in particular? Or more basically, what other journey am I neglecting? There is an idea behind changing the human scene. This essential purpose has not altered in eons. What has changed is our capacity to casually shift continent, waltzing in and out of global airports. They Read more [...]

83X

What sort of San Francisco day will it be? As I make my way trainward, the question rings with promise and something else. In suburban Menlo Park there's the weather. It is far too warm for a wool pullover, but it is also far too early to pass judgment. I have checked the San Francisco weather. This attire could prove entirely appropriate. We will see. What else will we see? We see the 10:14 roll into the station right on time, Dexter at the helm. He is the epitome of the American train conductor. Read more [...]

Market Chat

"Do you go in the street?" This from a woman of approximately my advanced years, attired in a bicycle helmet and, like me, leaning over the halibut in the Menlo Park Farmer's Market. I take in this question, tilting it slightly this way and that, in case something rattles. No, nothing loose, such as irony or nuance. "Yes," I tell her. "I have been known to go into the street." Her question faintly jars me with its simplicity and illogic. To not go in the street would mean forever remaining Read more [...]