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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
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Sheltering at Home Chronicles

The coronavirus is having its way -- for now. We are sheltering at home -- ordering food to be delivered and taking careful socially distanced walks in the neighborhood. We worry. We laugh. We worry some more. And, like so many people around the world, we are inventing new ways to order and enjoy our lives.

I Confess. In 2020, I Washed the Potatoes. With Soap

April 5, 2025 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

sanitizing-mail-during-pandemic

It was April, 2020. The pandemic was underway and you couldn’t be too careful about what you let into your house, including your groceries. Which is why I washed the potatoes, with soap.  Read more.

Five Years Ago This Month — Covid Shut Down Our World

March 8, 2025 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

five years ago this month covid

Five years ago this month covid shut down our world. There wasn’t much to do, so I wrote a lot of covid stories, some sad and some, I like to think, amusing.  Read more.

Sheltering at Home Revisited: The Virus Arrives

March 16, 2024 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

covid-19-warning

Sheltering at home revisited: The virus arrives, the shutdowns go into effect, and we find out how much our “mere” acquaintances mean to us.  Read more.

Those Wild and Wooly Pandemic Hairdos — Tales From the Covid Shut-Down

June 3, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

wild and wooly pandemic hair woman-with-pandemic-hair

I thought the flawless, pre-covid Nancy Reagan coiffure would fade away, and the wild and wooly pandemic hairdos would prevail. Wrong!  Read more.

Women — Can They Have It All?

May 27, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

women -- can they have it all, like singer-songwriter-jaspar-lepakWomen — can they have it all? Can a woman have the child and her dreams of a career? I say, yes, she can. Go for it!  Read more.

Did the Pandemic Shut-Down Change the Way We Live?

April 22, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

did the pandemic shut-down change the way we live?

Travel with me back in time to the bad old days of 2020 to consider — did the pandemic shut-down change the way we live?  Read more.

Tales From the Pandemic Shut-Down — It’s Been Three Years

March 25, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

tales from the pandemic shut-down: covid-19-warning

Memories of the strange and frightening months of quarantine are fading. Is it time to retell those tales of the pandemic shut-down?  Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

My Purple Rain Garden: Is the Universe Trying to Tell Me Something?

Pansies so purple they appear black -- are they flourishing in honor of Purple Rain by pop singer Prince? Photo by Barbara Newhall

Lots of rain and lots of purple in our garden this year. Purple nemesia, purple iris, purple pansies. What gives? Is this a Purple Rain message from the spirit world? Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

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  • A Case of the Human Condition
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  • My Rocky Spiritual Journey

 
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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!

1951-birthday-party

Two Big Things to Do Before You Die (Your Dear Ones Will Thank You)

A grey-green Tudor bungalow in Minneapolis. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Tudor Bungalows in the Twin Cities—Little Houses With a Big Sense of Humor

writer's block is addressed insightfully in Jane Anne Staw's book Unstuck

The Writing Room: Writer’s Block and the Toxic Reader

A granite boulder in Yosemite's high country. Photo by BF Newhall.

Photo Op: Yosemite Rocks — And Sometimes It Rolls

MORE DON'T MISS!

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