Hiking Adventures in the San Francisco Peninsula and Beyond
Feedback from yesterday’s Mission Peak “Double” hike: epic and brutal, brutal, I can’t feel my legs, good thing that another hiker’s dog was able to pull me up the mountain, great hike but you need to enjoy the process; meanwhile, for these two, scroll all the way down, it’s business as usual. Suffice it to … Continue reading Mission Peak – January 2024
Some observations: It had been four years since my last trip across the pond. It seems that everyone else had the same idea. Turmbesteigung (Tower Ascent). 157 meters, 533 steps, a 360 degree view of Cologne, pure joy to any serious hiker. Looking back, I should have done this twice, with a weighted backpack! Cologne … Continue reading European Vacation (2023)
As some know, I am a near-native San Francisco. I grew up in the avenues. June through August were gloom and doom, with no sun in sight sometimes for weeks. September and October, our Indian Summer, were sublime. November was hazy. December could be perfect, especially on a still, clear day. Lands End is just … Continue reading Lands End to Fort Point (San Francisco)
It does not rain in the San Francisco Bay Area in September. I have lived here for nearly 43 years and can attest to this fact of nature. Sprinkle, maybe. Rain, definitely not. Thus, when my weather app forecasted 60% chance of rain at 8am this morning, I thought little of it. At 9am, it … Continue reading Pulgas Ridge OSP – September PHG Hike
Not enough time for a proper post, but where else can you find (within relatively close proximity) the room where it happened, the Embassy of Kazakhstan (sans Borat), magnificent Turkish kofte paired with a refreshing Lebanese Pilsner, a Jew-ish Deli (serving a decadent white fish bagel sandwich), a French bakery serving coffee from Portland, an … Continue reading Washington D.C.
Liminal Coffee Roasters Happy Saturday. Lots to talk about. Inflation is real, at least in the San Francisco Bay Area. $6.99 for both a pound of peaches at my local (higher end) supermarket and a gallon of gas. Tough one. De minimis elasticity on the price of gas; some stations charge closer to $6.00, but steep … Continue reading Saturday Musings 05.14.22
March 21, 2022 Hello Spring. Nowruz Mobarak, as well. More on wine. Duckhorn was founded in 1976, three years before my migration. Dan and Margaret (Duckhorn) first specialized in merlots, long before the term was amusingly besmirched by Paul Giamatti in Sideways (2005). Paraduxx (1994), known for fabulous and inventive zinfandel and other blends, followed. Goldeneye (1996), a … Continue reading Migration
Budapest I had originally titled this post "Day 16," but, regrettably it has sat in my draft folder for the past four days. I am being productive, but have a nagging feeling that I am probably not doing enough. We are now almost in week four of the invasion, or as Russia continues to maintain, … Continue reading Day 20
Kyiv March 7, 2022 Sunday, March 6, 2022 was another hard day, with the Russian military pummeling Irpin, just west of Kyiv, without regard for civilian casualties (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/06/world/europe/ukraine-irpin-civilian-death.html). I will update this document from time to time. To be clear, it is not comprehensive or exhaustive. If you have suggestions regarding other ways to help … Continue reading How to Help Ukraine
It has been another tumultuous and exhausting week. Some thoughts and observations: I had dinner a few days ago with a good friend at my favorite local taqueria (La Cumbre). In the same year I became naturalized (1986), he escaped from Iran, as a teenager. He had grown up in Tehran during the Iran-Iraq War … Continue reading Day 9
The Peninsula Hiking Club 