Barbara’s Riffs on Life

Lt. Col. Vindman and That Old, Old Question — Are We Born Selfish?

The testimony of Alexander Vindman et al reassures me that, yes, there are still plenty of conscientious people walking the planet. Read more.

Those Fifties kitsch geegaws on the stair railing have got to go. That’s what I told myself when Jon and I bought this house back in 1978. Read more.

Very festive. Very patriotic. No jets or tanks, just the red, white and blue flying on the Fourth of July at our house again this year. Read more.

Six hundred miles and millions of poppies on California’s Interstate 5 — and one more Sunday NYT crossword puzzle bites the dust. Read more.

This year’s California Golden Poppies are a richer, darker — orange — color than I’ve ever seen in the Bay Area. Credit that winter rain? Read more.

Cathy Guisewite, cartoonist and author of “Fifty Things That Aren’t My Fault,” writes the way I want to write: with humor and grace. Read more.