My mother is gone, but when she died, she left a few things behind — a battered old purse, a small sofa she liked to call the loveseat. Read more.
A Case of the Human Condition
I’m Barbara Falconer Newhall and I’ve got an incurable Case of the Human Condition. And since you do too, I’m counting on you to laugh and cry along with me as I riff on life as we know it . . . Below you'll read about my creaky, old fifties house, my forays into home gardening, my shopping stories, my spectacularly low-fashion wardrobe -- and more.
Confessions of a Carnivore: Why Eating Meat is OK — Sorta
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Cattle feed lot extending acres into the distance at Harris Ranch, CA. Photo by BF Newhall[/caption]
Cattle feed lot extending acres into the distance at Harris Ranch, CA. Photo by BF Newhall[/caption]
I don’t see a clear difference between slaughtering a pig and cutting down a seven-story tree. Between netting the wild salmon I eat for dinner and harvesting my breakfast oats. Faced with a choice between killing a pig and killing the tree in our backyard – I’d kill the pig. Read more.
I’m a Meat-Eating Loser – I Didn’t Win the New York Times Ethicist Contest
I’m a meat-eating loser. I didn’t win the “Why It’s OK to Eat Meat” essay contest the New York Times Magazine put on a few weeks ago. But I’m OK with that. Read more.
A Makeover in the Works — We’re Updating My Website
A Makeover in the Works — We’re Updating My Website
In My Rain-Battered Garden — Nothing Is Forever, Not Even Those Poppies
St. Jerome kept a human skull on his desk to remind him of his mortality. We gardeners don’t need a skull . We’ve got stuff dying on us every day. Read more.
Tulips, Orchids and More — Florists Put on a Lively Show for the Dead
It’s not often you get to do something for the dead. But every year, florists put on a show to benefit the Friends of Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland, CA.
It’s Spring in Our Brilliant, Bursting, Buzzing Front Yard
I live in California where spring peaks in March. And by last week the little patch of hillside that is our front yard was alive with color. Read more.