I just finished a Zoom call with my daughter Sarah. She and I have committed to doing the 30-Day Blue Zone Challenge, which is based on the book of the same name by Dan Buettner, who studied the zones in the world where people live the longest. This is a basic, no-nonsense way of eating…

I recently came across my mother’s memory book of my brother, John. It contains family photos, several letters from John she received in the months prior to his death, along with condolence cards and letters after he died in 1990. He was 46 at that time. He had been diagnosed with AIDS less than 2…

Over the past week, we’ve had four visitors from Western Massachusetts with us here in Los Angeles. Sovahn, the son of our old friends Sonny and Emily Crawford, along with three of Sovahn’s friends: Nick, Devon, and Chris. The boys are all in their early 20s and we’d met Nick and Devon on previous trips…

There’s a Child Outside My Window A little girl plays in my neighbor’s tree Her blonde locks swirl in the breeze Her sturdy legs straddle a low-lying limb As if she’s riding a strong brown steed Taking her on a wild adventure In her lap sits her trusty pink bunny Its ears bounce as she…

I wrote this a while back but read it this evening and it feels suitable for sharing. Wishing everyone a lovely Oscar evening. I will talk again with you tomorrow. Len His Hands Sheila was surprised when the phone didn’t ring. She’d waited all day; waited into the early evening. She was certain he’d call,…

  Today was the Requiem Mass for Bob Halvorson, who was a long-time parishioner at St. Thomas the Apostle, Hollywood. I wasn’t able to be there since I was traveling at that time but wanted to offer a small story about my tiny, but sweet relationship with Bob. Bob and I were church acquaintances. We…

Serves 6-8 Daughter Elizabeth shared this recipe with me today after we discussed the Blue Zone eating plan. I may make it for Ray’s upcoming birthday. The use of extra-virgin olive oil versus butter is what qualities this as a Blue Zone recipe. I will most likely use agave syrup or maple sugar as the…

We are up in Ojai, trying to get work done at our orange grove in between the rain storms that have been deluging California over the past several weeks. Despite two days of perfect blue-skied weather, we have yet another major weather system headed our way, which is described as a “warm atmospheric river event.”…

Today our old friend, Angela Amato, and her partner Kamala visited us at our orange grove in Ojai. They live in Keene, New Hampshire but came west to see several friends and Kamala’s aunt, all of whom live in CA. Ray and I have known Angela for over 30 years but haven’t seen her for…

This afternoon, I was working on a poem and using a Joni Mitchell song as a model. The poem is far from finished – I’m slow at these things – but tonight when trying to decide what to write, I happened to look down at my notes. After reading them, I decided they are worthy…