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Barbara Falconer Newhall

Veteran journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall riffs on life as she knows it.

  • A CASE OF THE HUMAN CONDITION
  • MY EVER-CHANGING FAMILY
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Barbara Falconer Newhall

I’m Thankful For a Clean Oven, Fresh Ice Cubes . . . and a Daughter-in-Law-to-Be

November 21, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments

Lava rocks laid in ground for steppingstone garden path. Photo by BF Newhall

 

What I’m grateful for, what I’m jazzed and excited about today, are the small things that have gone right for me lately: A clean oven, freshly washed windows, and a new steppingstone path for the garden — all in time for Thanksgiving. See more.


Anne Lamott on Getting Older — Drop That Rock

November 16, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 4 Comments

Ann Lamott at a book signing in Oakland, CA, spring 2012. photo by BF Newhall

It’s time to drop that rock we’ve been carrying around, says Anne Lamott. It’s time to surrender to the fact that we can’t do it all. We’re getting older and it’s time to have ourselves some peace.

Sue Johnson’s Lamps and Shades — Works of Art From a Little Shop in Berkeley

November 9, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 10 Comments

A hand-blown glass lamp by Lindsay Art Glass. Photo by BF Newhall

On Solano Avenue in the far north reaches of Berkeley, California, a modest storefront softly glows, luring me in every time I pass by. It’s Sue Johnson’s custom lamp and shade store.

Photo Op: Yosemite Rocks — And Sometimes It Rolls

November 2, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments

Glacial erratics piled on a sloping rock at Inyo National Forest, CA. Photo by BF Newhal

 

The big rocks and cliffs at Yosemite are spectacular, but so is the smaller stuff — the boulders, rocks, stones and pebbles that litter every inch of the 12,000-square-mile national park. I’m especially partial to the glacial erratics.

Walk 1000 Miles Around Lake Michigan? She Did It — Now I Don’t Have To

October 26, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 21 Comments

Loreen hikes alongside Lake Michigan snow drifts. Niewenhuis photo

Walk around Lake Michigan . . . the whole thing. I’d start in late spring and finish up in the fall. And when I was done, I’d write a book about it. Lucky for me, Loreen Niewenhuis beat me to it.

Will Our Kids Grow Up to Be Cheaters Like Lance Armstrong?

October 20, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 4 Comments

Peter Newhall looks up to catch the baseball. Photo by BF Newhall

Will my kids grow up to be cheaters? Is it possible to raise honest children in this Pete Rose-Bernie Madoff world — where something like 50 percent of students admit to cheating? Read More

Belief Is Seriously Overrated — You Don’t Have to Be a Believer to Believe

October 14, 2012 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 7 Comments

Peter Newhall at St. Vincent Catholic church, Pentwater, MI. Photo by BF Newhall

Some of my family members were uneasy at the thought of standing up at my mother’s memorial mass to read from the Bible, a document they didn’t believe in. I told them I thought belief was seriously overrated.

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ON THE FUNNY SIDE

What to Say to a Widow

What to say to a widow twin-baby-boys

What to say to a widow? Here’s a tip: If the widow in question is me — tell me a true story about my husband.  Read more.

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TO MY READERS

Please feel free to share links to my posts with one and all and to quote briefly from them in your own writing, remembering, of course, to attribute the quote to me and to provide a link back to this site.

My Oakland Tribune columns, btw, are reprinted by permission of the Trib. With the exception of review copies of books, I do not accept ads or freebies of any kind. Click on the "Contact" button if you have questions. Enjoy!

 

DON’T MISS!

A greeting card with embossed and stamped poppies, blank inside by Emeryville, CA, printer Paula Skene Designs. Photo by BF Newhall

At the Hallmark Store — Teary-Eyed in the Sympathy Card Section

1960s-peace-flag

My Old Stuff — A Little Moldy, a Little Dusty, but Unlike Certain People It’s Still With Me

woodland-skipper-butterfly

There’s a Pollinator in My Pollinator Garden

A stuffed moose or elk hangs on the wall of the Antler Bar, Pentwater, Michigan. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Inside Pentwater’s Antler Bar — A Beer Too Many

MORE DON'T MISS!

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