Four short tales from the year, interspersed with photos (telling their own tales), followed by a photo gallery. Tale 1. Chance encounter with Silicon Valley Douglas and Ruth Mackay invited us to…

I turned 70 in December, a multifaceted event. On the plus side, I’m still here, having outlived both parents, and on the minus, well, what exactly am I writing about now?! It…

You know how you create a picture of yourself over the years, a kind of tableau of your past, in your own mind if in no-one else’s? I do that a lot,…

Before the virus showed its stuff, we did make it to the Elvis Costello concert in Sunderland, northeast England, on March 3. Third row tickets explained the choice of venue, and the…

Isn’t that a great word? Seenager, a cross between a senior and a teenager. That has been me this year. I only realized it when I first heard the word, in November,…

In December of 2017 I turned 65. This means, officially, that I am getting old. I am not. I may have reached the age of the “old age pensioner” of my youth,…

I was sitting at the bar in Oswald’s, one of Santa Cruz’s nicer restaurants, chatting and flirting. This was during the year’s gap between girlfriends, sometime during the summer. First a woman…

It’s Christmas Day, an incredibly beautiful day here in Santa Cruz after the wind and rain of the last few days. As we drove home, the air was clearer and brighter than…

Another year done, as Charlie delicately reminded me recently. I was trying to help him recognize a girl he knew whom I had met, and told him that her hair color was…

Happy Holidays, everyone!! It’s been a solitary year here. I don’t say lonely, because with the possible exception of holidays built around families, I’m having a fine time – so many little…

You know that you’re getting old when the McCartney featured in the Queen’s New Year’s honors list is named Stella. Stella? Oh, that’s right, Sir Paul’s daughter, honored for services to British…

It’s the time of year when we look back on all that we’re grateful for, an easy job here. We’re especially grateful for teenagers and twenty-somethings! I was quietly watching the Beatles’…

Every year (almost!) since 1997, we have sent an annual update to friends and family. They are collected here. This is the first update since we parents moved apart. Early in this…