Patricia Harrelson

One terrific aspect of having 15 grandkids, ages 10-30, is their wealth of cultural and artistic experience. This year, I asked each of my grandkids to name a show, movie, podcast, book and/or musical artist they have enjoyed. I now … Continue reading

There was a puff of smoke in the sky to the south, clearly a fire, something our eyes are alert to in the foothills all summer. We watched a pyrocumulus cloud form on the horizon–beautiful but not benign. The cloud … Continue reading

When I was six years old, my family moved into a flat on California Street in San Francisco in a building that my dad and his brother had renovated.  We lived upstairs in the 3 bedroom flat with a big … Continue reading

Last Sunday, Clare and I went to Mass at St. Josephs in Mariposa. During the homily, the priest talked about Blue Monday, a late January phenomena of depression related to the middle of winter, cold, dark days, lots of sickness, … Continue reading

Uncle Buddy was nothing like my dad, his brother. He was bald, smoked a pipe, and listened to classical music. For a good part of my childhood, he lived in an apartment behind my dad’s shop. We lived in the … Continue reading

The Dixon family was terribly disappointed to learn that neither Kenny nor Rex would make it home for Christmas this year. Kenny is a student at Columbia University who couldn’t afford the plane fare and Rex was scheduled to work … Continue reading

My heart filled again and again in the week before Christmas, this year. It all began with Occupy Christmas. For a time, I didn’t think it was going to be possible to pull off our annual Christmas party, but with … Continue reading

Reinventing family traditions after a divorce can be a real challenge, so I’m delighted to be in the 5th year of an annual Christmas Party thrown by my kids’ father, his new wife, Bonnie, and me and my partner, Cindy. … Continue reading

  Two grandsons and a niece graduate from high school this week. All week, I’ve been trying to come up with some kind of wisdom to posit with these young people. Graduating high school is really a big thing, but … Continue reading

I do believe that the month of May 2011 will go down in history as one of the busiest and most memorable. It was cram-packed with special events and family connections: May 2- After 11 days of caring for her … Continue reading