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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
  • MY ROCKY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
  • WIDOWED
  • FUNNY BUTTON

My Ever-Changing Family

Our family shrinks and grows. People die. People get born. People get mad and won't talk to you for a while. Kids grow up and find partners of their own, and pretty soon there are brand-new in-laws. And a grandchild or two.

Christmas Is Big. Bigger Than Christianity — And Donald Trump

December 15, 2016 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments

The Parrocchia church spires in San Miguel de Allende, where Christmas is big. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Christmas is big. Christianity’s biggest holiday is leaving the religion in the dust with 15 times the Internet mentions of Christianity. Read more.

One Broken Ankle, and Two Lives Grind to a Halt. Or, Why You Should Definitely Stop and Tie That Loose Shoelace

December 1, 2016 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 12 Comments

A 75-year-old man with his broken ankle in a cast in a hospital bed in his den with TV. Photo by Barbara Newhall

I’m doing my wifey thing. My husband has a broken ankle and I’m taking care of him. That means I’m exhausted. And grumpy. Read more.

The Turkeys at Our House, Dead and Alive

November 24, 2016 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 1 Comment

Turkeys at our house: live in our back yard. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Every year at this time we have a bunch of turkeys at our house. One comes in a shopping bag; the others arrive on their own two feet. Read more.

My Ancestral Ghosts — Are They Haunting This Halloween House in Minnesota?

October 31, 2016 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments

Are my ancestral ghosts haunting this Red Wing house decorated for Halloween. Barbara Falconer Newhall traveled to Red Wing, MN, to look for her 3x great-grandmother's houses. This house, a duplex, built in 1920, stands at the location on Third St. where her ancestor lived. Photos by Barbara Newhall

Could my ancestral ghosts be haunting this Halloween house in Red Wing, Minnesota? I wanted to think so. Read more.

The Bride Said Yes to the Dress . . . The Mother-of-the-Bride Diaries Begin

October 27, 2016 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 1 Comment

Seamstress and saleswoman Nordstrom fit a bride with a wedding dress. Yes to the dress. Photo by Barbara Newhall

The woman said yes to The Dress, the one she’ll be wearing on her wedding day. With that, her mother opened a credit card account and placed the order. Read more.

Wedding Dress Shopping — When Your Daughter Lets You Tag Along

September 1, 2016 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 7 Comments

Bride in plaid dress contemplates an array of irvory wedding gowns at Le Marriage bridal shop, Los Angeles. Wedding dress shopping. Photo by Barbara Newhall

When I went wedding dress shopping forty years ago, I went all by myself. My daughter was smarter. She phoned and asked me to go with her. Read more.

Airbnb — When a Home Away From Home Gets Way Too Homey

August 25, 2016 By Barbara Falconer Newhall Leave a Comment

It's no Airbnb, but rather a real Bed and Breakfast, cluttered but clean and cozy. Candlewyck House, Pentwater, MI. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Airbnb is supposed to be a good deal — homey and cheap. But maybe, really I’d be better off in a real bed and breakfast like this one. Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

At the Feet of Annie Dillard, Memoirist, Essayist, Observer of the Real

A well-read copy of"The Abundance" by Annie Dillard. Photo by Barbara Newhall

What draws me to author Annie Dillard — what makes me want to turn off the TV and grab one of her books — is her eagle-sharp eye for the world as it truly is. 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!

family-of-four

Was I a Tradwife in the 1980s? Or a Liberated Woman in Progress?

Windmills against the sky, Altamont Pass, CA. Photo by BF Newhall

A Case of the Human Condition: Build a Wind Farm — Wreck Lake Michigan

Actor Christopher Dennis crossing Walk of Fame street in Hollywood. Photo by BF Newhall

Stalking Superman

Sue Mary Fox with the colorful calico crazy quilt she completed in her Berkeley studio for Barbara Falconer Newhall. Photo by Barbara Newhall

A Crazy-Making Crazy Quilt — Finished at Last

MORE DON'T MISS!

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