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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

Widowed

Jon died unexpectedly at the age of 79. I thought we'd have many more years together. We won't.

Would My Husband Like to Take My Name?

May 1, 2021 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

add my name to his? jon-and-barbara-newhall-get-married

My fiance had no middle name. When we married, I asked, would he like to take my name to fill the empty spot in the middle of his? Read more.

A Hopeful Realist Is Keeping Me Company These Days

April 24, 2021 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

hopeful realist contemplates the pinwheel-galaxy-NASA

I like to think of Geoff Machin as a hard-headed realist. A hard-headed — hopeful — realist is just the right company for me these days. Read more.

My Husband Is Gone. But the Tree Trimmers Showed Up as Promised.

April 17, 2021 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

tree-trimmer-in-tree

My husband is gone. Does that mean I have to cancel the household projects we planned and dreamed of doing? Read more.

My Husband Died, and Denial and Distraction Are My Go-To States for Now

April 10, 2021 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

my-husband-died-so-I-hiked -at-chimney-rock

My husband of 44 years died seven weeks ago. So far, I’ve used denial and distraction to keep my mind off the silence.  Read more.

Widowed: Lucky Me, I Told Jon Newhall I Loved Him

March 13, 2021 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

Jon Newhall makes dinner at the Newhall house. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Lucky me. I told my husband I loved him while he was still alive. Read more.

Jonathan Newhall. My Husband of Forty-Four Years

February 27, 2021 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

jonathan-newhall-obit

Friends and readers. I am so sad to report that my dear husband of 44 years, Jonathan Newhall, died last week. Here is his obituary. Read more.

What’s Rhetoric? Let My Two-Year-Old Enlighten You

May 25, 2009 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

My daughter Christina discovered the art of rhetoric when she was being weaned from baby bottle to plastic cup. She’d say, “I want milk and I don’t want it in a cup” — an elegant illocutionary statement that usually got her what she wanted, her bottle.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

The American Flag Is Flying in My Liberal, Elitist, San Francisco Bay Area Neighborhood Today. Here’s Why.

Stars and Stripes. A man hangs the American flag on the front of his house. Photo by Barbara Newhall

‘The right wingers don’t own the American flag flag,’ I said as my husband hung the Stars and Stripes from our garage. ‘It’s my flag too.’ Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

CATEGORIES

  • A Case of the Human Condition
  • My Ever-Changing Family
  • On Writing & Reading
  • My Rocky Spiritual Journey

 
Need some levity? Push my Funny Button!

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!

A dark hallway in a 1950s California ranch house obscures the beautiful canyon view available in the living room. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Too Many Walls — and Not Enough Bathrooms — at Our House

Lisbon-cathedral-crucified-christ

A Meditation for Holy Week: An Afterlife Where Time Does Not Exist?

Widowed: If I Visit His Grave, Will It Help?

Perdita by Frederick Sandys is on the cover of Patricia Monaghan's Encyclopedia of Goddesses and Heroines, 2014.

A Thousand Goddesses–Some Nice, Some Not So Nice–Take Your Pick

MORE DON'T MISS!

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