Writing On A Train For The New Year

(Written partially whilst happily traveling by train; edited after enduring a depressing event I’ll detail later. This post may be a bit, uh, dyslexic?.)
Trains are good for writing. It rather makes me wish that I could travel by train between Southern and Northern California since, in addition to writing, I could get in [...]

Maybe It Does Make A Difference

I’ve gained probably 10 pounds of non-muscle to be sure, but The Best Friend, having not seen me for a year, noted that my chest and shoulders seemed a bit broader.
Playfully punching me in the arm later on, she noted the fact that the arm she punched was a tiny bit bigger and more muscular [...]

Just To Be Clear

Okay, I just want to be very clear about this, right from the start. I love my parents. I really do. I love The Parentage with all my little GeekHiker heart.
Okay, are we all clear on that now? Everybody understand?
Good.
Now can I admit that my parents often manage to frustrate the [...]

Hey, Y’all: Merry Christmas!

Just a quickie post to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! And, of course, a Happy Holidays to everyone, whatever your persuasion.
I’m up north, per usual. As we do every year on Christmas Eve, The Parentage and I watched “A Christmas Carol” (the George C. Scott version, thank you very much). Plans for [...]

Don’t Want To Be “That” Guy

On more than one occasion, it’s been suggested that maybe it’s time that I move to a different town. That maybe I’d be happier outside of LA. As I’m getting ready to hit the road in a couple of days, I hear those suggestions in my head as well right now.
Don’t worry. This isn’t going [...]

There’s Snow In Dem Dar Hills

The big cold storms that rolled through Southern California last week did have at least one very cool side benefit: they dumped a couple of feet of fresh, powdery snow up in the mountains. And so I headed up with a small group this weekend to do the Highway 2 Snowshoe, which is a [...]

Take Every Opportunity?

Last weekend I was invited to a birthday dinner. It was for one of the people in one of the groups that I occasionally do activities with.
I was initially inclined to go, but when the evening rolled around, I just, well, didn’t. For whatever reason, I just didn’t want to. Didn’t want [...]

My Parents Were My Gateway

Today’s post by the talented and beautiful Charlotte Harris reminded me of an incident in my own youth.
My Mom was a teacher, as many of you know, but I may have never revealed that when I was a kid she was a teachers assistant for a hard-of-hearing/deaf class in our school. As such she [...]

HIKE: Paramount Ranch

When I did this hike a couple of weeks ago, I hadn’t really expected a hike at all. I’d brought along a book and a few snacks and expected to spend most of the day reading, but Paramount Ranch proved to be something of a surprise.
Paramount Ranch has been used as a filming site [...]

Pondering

Ever find that you’ve read something and it sticks in the back of your mind? Not in such a way that you actually sit down and ponder it, mull it over, or consider its intricacies, but just sorta floats in the back of your thoughts, popping up now an then throughout the day?
I’ve pointed [...]