We’re part way into Week Two and it’s raining. It’s raining so much in Santa Cruz that James is trapped over the hill and has to spend the night at Matt and Dr. Antsy’s. Hopefully things will clear up and he won’t have to rent a helicopter to rescue Granddad and…
It’s Sunday night and we’ve survived Week One of our Six Week Retreat of Healing. James has been settling-in at Granddad and Grandma Suzy’s this week, commuting to Los Gatos for his daily radiation treatments, and doing his best to balance staying busy and not wearing himself out. He had…
Over the holiday break, Granddad held a neighborhood pony party, complete with miniature neighbors and miniature ponies. It was great. During the party, Jakey Crockett and Nathaniel Boone palled around with their buddy Jack and the Beanstalk (this nickname will become apparent later on), climbing trees and fences and ponies. Meanwhile,…
Many years ago, my dear friend Kristen was on an airplane. She’s eagerly looking forward to cracking her big new Harry Potter book for several hours of cross-country magical mayhem when an older gentleman, sitting next to her, decides to chat her up, “Is that one of those books about…
My last three jobs primarily focused on large-scale change initiatives… helping people and organizations to understand, absorb and accept a constant stream of changes, both big and small. We used to talk a lot about “getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.” We focused on listening. We emphasized and reemphasized what was important.…
As some of you have noticed, I’ve become significantly more attuned to my surroundings in the last two months. Maybe it’s my mindful meditation practice? Perhaps the real or perceived threat of being in constant and imminent danger? Or it could be La Niña and the weekly excitement of rockslides and…
This past weekend was beautiful, as the majority of our weekends have truly been since we got here. On Saturday, all the boys went fishing with Papa at the end of the furthest pier in Avila. While they were busy drowning bait, I walked almost five miles— starting at the Bob…
Back in high school, two of my friends and I decided we wanted to take a night class at our local community college— some sort of advanced Spanish class that took place after dark. My parents told me no in no uncertain terms. They were certain I would be accosted…
On Tuesday night, James and I headed up to Santa Cruz in preparation for two appointments on Wednesday. The next morning we woke-up, had a cup of tea and some swamp water, and then packed-up for the commute to Palo Alto. As we were waking-up in my parents’ cozy sitting room…
A quick update to let you know I’ll post a more satisfying update on Saturday. Running on fumes this week and am coasting into the weekend via gravity and momentum. James and the boys have another four-day weekend and are off adventuring today. Thank you to everyone for your texts, calls…