I grew up with stories of “When Daddy was a little boy…”, tales of my father’s childhood lived across adventures from Nevada to DC to Afghanistan to Korea. The preferred setting for these narratives had to be the streets of…
Tag: But the Past Isn’t Done with Us
I Ain’t Gonna Work on Maggie’s Farm No More
I have yet to see “I’m Not There,” allegedly a very good film about the many sides of Bob Dylan. And maybe “I’m Not There” is all the message one needs. I have written so much about being there or…
Be There Then: 2007 in Review
2007, I miss you already. I don’t often do full-scale year-in-review pieces, but I have always enjoyed reading them. In particular, my work-friend Pete’s 2007 in review was particularly striking to me. I liked his idea of top ten moments…
Snow Chance
It’s the last day of the year called 2007. I am the last one awake in a cabin at Shaver Lake, California. Most all of the Garin Clan is here, save one component family. It is late, and there are…
Historical Perspective
My Dad and I have a running debate about whether there’s reason for hope these days or not. In general, not in specific. We buck all kinds of generational assumptions by him being the one who believes there’s hope, and…
The Ants Go Marching
The ants came in from the cold this weekend. We first saw them in Tracy on Friday morning. To be fair, Kaitlin, just turned 4, the youngest of my 4 nieces/nephews (why is there no communal gender-neutral term for such…
The Ghost of Thanksgiving Past
Today has felt portentous. There is something about the arrival of cold. Cold and dark. I have always liked winter, as long as I can remember, and there are few places in the world when it isn’t finally cold(er) and…
Smells Like Grandmothers
Glide has several buildings in the Tenderloin, and while I primarily work at one (the Family, Youth and Childcare Center), I often have occasion to visit the others, especially the “main” building at 330 Ellis. This building is the home…
This is Where the Summer Ends
…in a flash of pure destruction no one wins. Go nuclear. Nuclear… The calm the beach and the remains… -Ryan Adams, “Nuclear” Trick or treat. It’s Halloween, in many ways my favorite day of the year. I am blessed to…
School of Hotel Management
On my walk home from Glide each day, I pass by the back end of the Hilton. The Hilton on the edge of San Francisco’s Tenderloin is a gargantuan 46-story hotel that Wikipedia tells me is the largest lodging facility…