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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
  • WRITING & READING
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Barbara’s Riffs on Life

The Perfect Christmas Tree — I Finally Found It

December 4, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Rows of perfectly shaped christmas tree on a tree farm. Creative commons photo

At the Christmas tree lot, the kids played hide ’n’ seek amid the trees, leaving me to find the perfect Christmas tree. The responsibility weighed heavy. Read more.

Seven Reasons to Be Grateful This Thanksgiving: Starting With the Rain, a Leaky Dishwasher, and You

November 27, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Thick gray limbs of a Monterery pine tree in the rain. Photo by Barbara Newhall

A book that’s done and ready to go. Enough rain to green up the hills for the holidays. Pumpkin pie. And you! I’ve got reasons to be grateful, big and small. Read more.

The San Juan Islands Ecosystems: The Woods Are Alive — And So Are the Meadows and Beaches

November 20, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

On the San Juan Islands, a variety of ecosystems exist side by side. Here a woods, a meadow alongside a bay shore. Photo by Barbara NewhallSo many San Juan Islands ecosystems can coexist on a single island that an afternoon’s walk can take you to beach, forest, wetland, meadow. Read more.

A Patch of Fireweed in the Northwest — What Color Are Those Blossoms? Do I Need to Know?

November 13, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

The sun was shining on a stand of fireweed, so the blossoms were pink and the foliage bright green. PHoto by Barbara Newhall

I couldn’t make up my mind about that tall stand of fireweed I saw growing on the edge of a woodlet in the Pacific Northwest last summer. Were those blossoms purple? Blue? Pink? Or what? Read more.

San Juan Islands Flora: Or, I Cling, Therefore I Am

November 6, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Granite rocks with lichen and pickle grass in Washington's San Juan Islands. Photo by Barbara Newhall

We cling. We cling to stuff. We cling to moments in time. On vacation last summer I clung to the verdant San Juan Islands flora. Read more.

KidSpirit OnLine: Where Young Souls Take On the Big–Old–Questions

October 30, 2014 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

The logo of KidSpirit OnLine.

Does truth have inherent value? What is beauty? Those are big questions, but the brave, young souls of KidSpirit OnLine are ready to take on the big ideas. Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

Barbie — Sex Object or Blank Slate?

barbie-sex-object-or-blank-slate an-8-year-old-girl-living-out-her-fantasies-as-a-swordswoman

Barbie: A sex object? Or a blank slate for girls to project their dreams on? Neither, if your daughter wants a doll who can fight dragons.  Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

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  • A Case of the Human Condition
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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!

An austere floral design of calas and leaves reflects Robert Motherwell's painting, "At five in the Afternoon, 1950," at the Bouquets to Art show at the de Young. Photo by BF Newhall

The de Young This Week: Bursting With Art — And Flowers

A three-by-five card with a teenager's promise to do work for her mother; it's a gift coupon. Photo by BF Newhall.

A Forgotten Gift From My Teenaged Daughter — No Good After December 31

Widowed, I’m Staying Put. And So Are My Bricks

View from the Tower of the Oakland, California, Tribune. The Clorox Building, the Ronald V. Dellums Federal Builing. Photos by Barbara Newhall

The Oakland Tribune Tower — A 1923 Structure With a Twenty-First Century View

MORE DON'T MISS!

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