Hiking Adventures in the San Francisco Peninsula and Beyond
It has been almost 40 years since I first traversed Golden Gate Park, en route to an apartment in the Richmond District, more than 6000 miles from home. For some reason, I recall the corner of 25th Avenue and Geary Boulevard, streetlights that probably should have been brighter, the Doggie Diner on the northeast corner. … Continue reading San Francisco
One of my guilty pleasures is House Hunters International (https://www.hgtv.com/shows/house-hunters-international), on HGTV. There is a domestic (House Hunters) version as well, but for many reasons, it is utterly uninteresting. I’m sure there are many interesting apartments and homes in Los Angeles, New York, and Peoria, but after a long day, for refocusing the mind, these … Continue reading Living Abroad
Art imitates life, and vice versa. Standing on one of the many terraces of Hase-dera (736) (http://www.hasedera.jp/en/), in Kamakura, a sleepy seaside town about an hour south of Tokyo, in Kanagawa Prefecture, I could not help but think of the atmospheric woodblock prints of Hokusai and imagine the confluence of meteorological events giving rise to … Continue reading Kamakura
Not a day goes by that I am not reminded of Tokyo. Let me explain. The Pilot Juice Up 0.3mm retractable gel pen is surgical. I purchased two, and replacement ink, from a store in the Odaiba Mall facing Tokyo Bay. At only ¥200, I should have bought more. This Juice Up (other versions exists) … Continue reading Tokyo On My Mind
Call me a bibliophile. Libraries (Suzzallo, University of Washington, pictured above) are exotic bazaars. So are bookstores. Picture Blackwell’s on Broad Street in Oxford (which I visited while on a coach tour and, as luck would have it, had not more than twenty minutes to explore), Powell’s City of Books in downtown Portland, or City … Continue reading Ode to Books
I am drawn to faraway places. Bergen, five thousand miles from home, qualifies. While Bergen is known as the gateway to the fjords, there are simpler, and far more accessible, pleasures much closer to City Center. Wake up early. Go for a morning run through the Fish Market, past the row of Hansa houses on … Continue reading Bergen
It was with some apprehension that I agreed to spend my winter vacation at a dude ranch. I had not been on a horse for more than 30 years. It was summer camp, and one of the horses was named Mr. T, a memorable character on “The A-Team,” a popular network television show from the … Continue reading Tanque Verde
I have been running on and off for the past 20+ years, completing my first San Francisco Bay to the Breakers in 1997. Back then, I could run at any time throughout the day. While I was busy (or at least I thought I was), the range of responsibilities paled in comparison to those in years that followed. Over … Continue reading The Morning Run
Except in Galway. It probably does not help that California, which I have called home for more than 38 years, is experiencing another bone-dry winter, with no rain in the past few weeks and none on the horizon. While the reservoirs are mostly full, from last winter’s relative deluge, which followed six years of below … Continue reading The Grass Is Always Greener
Thanks for joining me! My name is John Pavolotsky, and this is my personal site. Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
The Peninsula Hiking Club 