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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
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Barbara's Sheltering At Home Journal

The deadly COVID-19 had arrived in the San Francisco Bay Area, and county authorities were telling us to shelter at home. Husband Jon and I were pushing 80. We were definitely in the at-risk group. So we hunkered down in our house on the hill. To work off my ever-increasing anxiety, I did what writers do – I wrote. The result: this Sheltering at Home journal.

Death, Taxes, the Constitution. The IRS Has Granted a Reprieve. Will the Grim Reaper? Sheltering in Place Week 5

April 15, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

death, taxes, the constitution -- a tax form

Death, taxes, the constitution. One has been postponed to July. Death is closer than ever. But what about the permanence of Ben Franklin’s constitution?  Read more.

Now’s Your Chance to Let Your Roots Grow Out. I Did It. Here’s Why — Sheltering at Home Week 4

April 10, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

let your roots grow out. woman-with-white-air-barbara-falconer-newhall

Let your roots grow out? Not an easy decision. But I was home sick with mono, too sick to go to the hairdresser. Now I love my glamorous new look. Read more.

The Coronavirus Cruise Ship Has Disappeared From Our View. Why Does That Make Me Sad? — Sheltering in Place Week 4

April 8, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

coronavirus cruise ship -- a grand-princess-promo-shot

The Grand Princess was white and stately, a pretty sight, yes. But there was something else about the coronavirus cruise ship that kept us checking on it every day. Read more.

Why I Write About the Small Stuff — Like the Kettle Corn That Showed Up in Our Food Order. Sheltering in Place Week 4

April 5, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

kettle-corn

A bag of kettle corn? How did that get into our on-line food order? Provisioning mishaps have provided comic relief to the coronavirus anxiety at our house. Read more.

Twenty Seconds: What’s Good for the Hands Is Good for the Potatoes. Right? Sheltering at Home Week 3

April 3, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

washing-potatoes-for-twenty-seconds

COVID-19 is out there. It could get me, which is why I’m doing a lot of weird stuff lately. Like soaping down the potatoes. For twenty seconds, of course. Read more.

It’s Time to Forget the Coronavirus for a Few Hours a Day — And Find Some Normalcy. Sheltering in Place Day 12

March 29, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

donald-trump-forget-the-coronavirus-and-donald-trump

Sheltering at Home Day 12. It’s time to forget the coronavirus for a few hours a day — try to — and get back to work on my next book. Read more.

Will Donald Trump Be the Death of Me? Pardon My Rant as I Shelter in Place — and Wind Up Praying for the President. Day 11

March 28, 2020 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

will donald trump be the death of me?

Dying is bad enough. It’s another thing to contemplate dying because Donald Trump is in the White House. Read more.

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

I Miss My Friends. But I Miss My Acquaintances More — Sheltering at Home Week 5

I miss my acquaintances. A Zoom exercise class gave me the chance to say hello to some of them.

I miss my acquaintances. I miss the shopkeepers, the women in my Zumba class, the friends of friends, all the people who know me, but don’t know my name. Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

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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!

Did my long-lost dead ancestors live in old frame houses like these on Minneapolis's Seventh Street South? Photo by Barbara Newhall

My Long-Lost Dead Ancestors — I Found Them in a Parking Lot

"Flowers for all Reasons" by Judy Clark, accompanies Helen Frankenthaler's painting "Free Wheeling" 1971 at the DeYoung Museum. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Another Bunch of Bouquets to Art 2015

jon Newhall works the Sunday NYT crossword puzzle in the SF Chronicle. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Happily Retired? Take the Quiz

woman-with-white-air-barbara-falconer-newhall

Now’s Your Chance to Let Your Roots Grow Out. I Did It. Here’s Why — Sheltering at Home Week 4

MORE DON'T MISS!

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