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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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DON'T MISS!

I've written hundreds and hundreds of posts over the years. To help you find your way to the best of the best, I've tagged my favorites "Don't Miss!" Scroll down here to find them.

Another way to locate Riffs on Life that you might enjoy is to click above on your favorite category – "My Ever-Changing Family," perhaps, or "Funny Button." You can also use the search box located way up top to hunt for stories by topic. There's fun reading at "garden," "aging," "kids" and, of course, "Jon."

Widowed: Am I Grieving? Or Am I Just Lonely?

January 13, 2024 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 6 Comments

empty-home-office

Am I grieving, or am I just lonely? When I spotted my husband’s empty office chair, I was overcome by — what? Sorrow? Or simple loneliness?   Read more.

Here Comes Another Year!

December 30, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 6 Comments

Here comes another year. Some of us have accumulated a lot of them. My glamorous Aunt Grace had racked up 98 years by the time she left the planet.  Read more.

Widowed: The Perfect Husband. The Perfect Christmas Tree

December 15, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments

widowed-the-perfect-husband-the-perfect-christmas-tree/

Widowed: The perfect husband? The perfect Christmas tree? I started a list of all the things that annoyed me about Jon. But I lost the list.  Read more.

‘Tis the Season to Declutter. Or Is It?

December 9, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 6 Comments

1960s-peace-flag

‘Tis the season to declutter — to ditch the 1960s peace flag and make room for the garlic roaster and the pickleball paddles. Or is it?  Read More.

Blood and Guts in My Backyard. Or, Nature Tidies Up

December 2, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 6 Comments

blood and guts in my backyard raven-california

Blood and guts in my backyard: A half-eaten deer lay sprawled under my cypress tree. Ravens croaked the news from the tree above.  Read more.

Betty Rollin: A Light Has Gone Out. And So Have Many Others

November 30, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall Leave a Comment

betty rollin a light has gone out rosalynn-carter-casket

Betty Rollin: A light has gone out. And so have many others — Rosalynn Carter, Harry Belafonte, Dianne Feinstein, Cormac McCarthy, Daniel Ellsberg …  Read more.

TV or Not TV: The Week We Turned Off Our 1980s Go-To Screen

November 25, 2023 By Barbara Falconer Newhall 2 Comments

TV or not TV? boy-with-stick

TV or Not TV? In 1987 the go-to screen for exasperated moms looking for a way to distract rambunctious kids was — the television set.  Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

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

Was I a tradwife? family-of-four

Was I a tradwife back in the 1980s?  Or was I a second-wave feminist still figuring out how to make the marriage-family-career thing work?  Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

CATEGORIES

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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!

charity-donations

My Deceased Husband’s Mail — I Like Getting It

Noah Lukeman on the Colon, That Most Majestic of Punctuation Marks . . .

A purple bearded iris blossom. Photo by BF Newhall

Purple Bearded Irises — Close Up and (Very) Personal

giants-cap-thriller-fest-cap

Widowed: Caught in the Time Warp of Grief

MORE DON'T MISS!

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