She was ready to leave long before she did…

My mother was 92 when she died in January 1998, a case of perfect retirement planning. She died in her sleep the month her bank account went to zero. It was the kind of death we talk about wanting for ourselves, but for almost a year she had asked me why she couldn’t just die now. The mystery of life and death. She wasn’t unhappy; she was just ready to go.

The night after she died I was having dinner alone at Oasis, a vegetarian restaurant in Salt Lake City. I was seated at a window looking into the interior courtyard of the small shopping center where the restaurant was located. Across the courtyard, in the window of a New Age bookstore, I saw this Buddhist scroll. read more

At 9 o’clock last night with the World Series tied at two games each, Kansas City and San Francisco tied at 4 – 4 in the bottom of the fifth inning, our lights began to flicker. When we turned on the outside light the trees in the park next door looked like something out of a Van Gogh painting – thrashing and leaning in a frenzied turbulent wind. By 9:30, in the bottom of the sixth with the Giants up 6 – 4 the lights went out.

Shit! Pitch black. Wind howling. Stumble around hunting down the flashlights (thank God, I mean Steve, for the iPhone), and trying to figure out what to do next. read more

What an eclectic mix, eh?

This is Benny, my four year old grandson. He recently learned his numbers to 100 and consequently he’s a cracker jack Chutes and Ladders player. Here he is in the process of sorting the playing pieces in preparation for our after school game. Benny won the first one, Opa won the second, but poor MeMe got skunked. Better luck next time, MeMe. You were a very good sport about it. We’ll play again next week.

When Benny’s Dad got home from work Opa and MeMe split for a night out. Our first stop was: read more

I’ve been threatening to unpack my list of favorite burgers for some time. It’s almost impossible because there are so many good ones and so many with memories attached. The following list is not meant to be a Top Ten. It’s just a list of my favorites over time.

1. Uneeda Burger, Seattle – Scott Staples’ Fremont burger bar. The owner/chef of Zoe and Quinn’s in Seattle opened this in 2012. Picnic tables and to order burgers.

2. Café Rouge, Berkeley – On gentrified Fourth Street. Great bar. Dignified décor. Excellent burgers. read more