I am in our room at the University Club of San Francisco. The University Club of San Francisco was founded in 1890 by a group of college graduates who wanted to create a social and cultural center for university alumni in the city. The club was originally located in several different downtown locations before moving to its current home at 800 Powell Street in 1909. The distinctive clubhouse building, designed by architects Bliss & Faville…
Last night we went to a party on a hilltop near us. To the north of our hilltop are several other hilltops (we live in a very hilly area to the west of the serious mountains, but to the east of the flat plains that run out to the ocean). Tucked in between Hidden Meadows and the Lawrence Welk resort complex (that’s right, once owned by Mr. Bubbly himself), there is a relatively expensive gated…
Yesterday the news arrived that Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States, died at his home in Plains, Georgia at the age of 100 years and a few months. It reminded me immediately that my mother died eight years ago at the same age of 100 years and a few months. I liken their two lives for a great many reasons. Both were born in rural communities to parents who owned farmland and…
Many years ago I read the now famous novel Things Fall Apart, written in 1958 by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. It is considered one of the great literary works of the Twentieth Century. That may be because it was one of the first novels to come in European style and yet from the pen of a native African, but still others believe it is simply a great story that needed to be told from a…
Let’s get one thing straight right from the get-go, I am inclined to be lazy. The word sedentary was designed for me. I am both a home body and I am contemplative at all times, which predisposes me to sitting and thinking or sitting and watching or siting and listening, and as most of you know already, sitting and talking. When I garden, I like to sit. I now have nine benches on the back…
Yesterday I was watching an immersive video on my Apple Vision Pro, which has gotten a resurgence of interest from me over the holidays because I have been letting others test drive it. That immersive video was an aerial tour of the islands of Hawaii, a place where I have spent almost no time (I went there for 36 hours in 1999…don’t ask, it was a work thing). Hawaii has always been a place of…
Thirty years ago I ran the retirement business of Bankers Trust Company. BTCo. was founded in 1903 by J.P. Morgan (the man) and his other banking pals who thought it would be smart to put all their trust business in one institution that he and his pals controlled. BTCo. Grew to become the second largest trust bank in the country. When I was asked to take over the Retirement Services business with it’s 4,000 employees,…
Today is Boxing Day, an occasion that really came into the vernacular in America in the last few years. The term comes to us from England, where it is traditionally celebrated on December 26th. It originated in Britain during the Victorian era, though some of its customs trace back even earlier. The name has a few potential origins, but the most widely accepted explanation relates to the practice of giving “Christmas boxes.” These boxes were…
On Christmas morning, I will be heading off to San Diego Airport to pick up my youngest son Tom and his wife Jenna, who are flying in from Denver for Christmas/Hannukah (Jenna is Jewish). Even though I have recently seen them both in NYC, I am still very much looking forward to their visit and spending a few days relaxing with them. Naturally, that gives rise to many thoughts about stories that come to mind.…
In three days it will be Christmas. As I’ve explained before, we tend to spread out the Christmas season over the course of a month. We have had our Holiday Party here in Casa Moonstruck on our hilltop for neighbors and friends. We have done our trek to Midtown Manhattan in New York City for the gathering with all the kids and our extended New York family and friends. We’ve done the Holiday Gala on…