Today was the seventh, monthly Walk-n-Talk here in Burien; 38 people and 3 dogs came to join the stroll! Of the walkers, 1 person was visiting from Salt Lake City, a family came from Phinney Ridge and others routinely come from Kent, Renton, Bellevue and Lacey. It still astounds me to see how well the idea has [...]

It must have been about 30 years ago that I wrote the following haiku-like thought in my journal as I watched the snow come down: “Snowfall. Silent action.” Unless the snow is icy and verging on sleet, it is quite silent as it falls, thus my observation. Over this weekend, all of us in this [...]

Everyone should have a centenarian in their life. Today, January 4, 2012, Gladys celebrated her 106th birthday. What a delight and honor to spend some of her day with her. Gladys is bright and sharp and quick. She loves rich, engaging conversation… a back-and-forth rally of sharing stories and following them where they will. Most [...]

How many years has she fed family and friends through this combination of flour, egg and oil? When I came across this video of Elia Neri making pasta dough for homemade tagliatelle, I watched, marveling as her hands worked, so knowing from the years. The slow pace of this video is like following a Tuscan [...]

Forty-one people showed up under unusually warm, blue skies for the Walk-n-Talk on New Year’s Day! Wow! Rainier was out. It was like a springtime day as people gathered on Town Square’s grassy knoll, having come from near and far to bask in a seasonal glow and chat with their neighbors. Wow. Forty-one people, young [...]

The alarm went off at 4:15 a.m. so I could get up on a cold night and watch the moon and its light on the water change with the lunar eclipse. The sky started out pretty crystal clear, but advanced into thin clouds. I was just shooting with my old, little Canon G9, so I [...]

At long last, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is going bye bye. The whole world has been incredulous and outraged for years, watching his shenanigans. After dominating Italian politics for 17 years, Berlusconi resigned on Saturday, November 12, 2011. Crowds jeered and cheered and played Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” as they celebrated the end of a long, [...]

A singular minute in our lives. We’ll have to wait another hundred years to have such a congruence of numbers in time and date. Next year, we will have 12:12 on 12/12/12, but that is a combination of two numerals, not one. I suppose that, more accurately, the year 11 would have been the true [...]

Five colored gems – the Cinque Terre – are strung like pearls along the arching neckline of the Ligurian Sea, Italy’s northern “riviera” (See map).With color palettes that include melon, kiwi, citron, honeydew, persimmon and apricot, the five towns are visual jewels and favorites of travelers from all over the world. Four of the towns are tight, [...]

It was like a punch in the gut a week ago, (October 25, 2011) when I heard that the Cinque Terre had been devastated by flood waters and mud. I had been in those five towns in 2008. I photographed them with an intensity and passion that yielded a sort of intimate affection for the [...]

My return to Haida Gwaii was so complex and deeply personal that any public writing about it will, by choice, only skim the surface of the experience. Last week, in Italian style, I trained up to Vancouver B.C., spent the day and night, then hopped on a puddle jumper to fly north for two hours. [...]

We’re just a bunch of folks, of various ages and abilities and speeds, out for a nice walk together. We show up once a month, whomever wants to amble on two feet, and we go from here to there in Volksmarch fashion. Today we walked from Burien’s Town Square westward into and around the Seahurst [...]

How dreamy to stroll under clear blue skies on a warm September afternoon, with neighbors from near and far. We had our second monthly Walk-n-Talk yesterday with a dozen two-footed walkers and three four-footed walkers, Lulu, Dingo and Khan. People came from as far away as Olympia, Kent and Bellevue to join the amble through [...]

Ignite an early enthusiasm for being on two wheels. Teach “bike sense” and street smarts to little ones. Gather people from the community for fun, conversation, fresh air and healthful exercise. These are the goals of Burien’s Bike “SaFaRis” – Safe Family Rides, launched by the enthusiastic, former Burien City Councilmember, Sue Blazak. The first [...]

People came in ones, twos and threes and gathered on the grassy knoll in the center of Burien’s Town Square. Mothers and daughters. Couples. Clusters of friends. A man and his dog. And people traveled from other towns just to join the walk. Amanda and Anne both came from Kent. Sharon came from Renton. Cathy [...]

Burien’s Walk-n-Talk is being launched this coming Sunday, August 7 at 2:00! Put on your comfy shoes and come for a casual Walk-n-Talk with friends and neighbors. On the first Sunday of every month, meet up at Burien Town Square with friends, old and new. Enjoy conversations and a walk through town. Grab a local coffee or snack before or after [...]

There’s some heavy petting going on, and purring fills the house. Nonna is queenlike on her fat cushion. And Ziggy – “Big Zig” – reigns as king from his high perches. Nonna is a 10-year-old, 11-pound, little-old-lady cat with an eye infection, dandruff and arthritis… and she’s FIV+. Poor kitty. She needed a good home [...]

Part of what makes this feel like home is having my dear neighbors show up at my door with a fresh harvest of arugula – rucola in Italian – and radishes. I did have sweet people in Italy (over)feeding me, but the friendships and interconnections here in my Burien neighborhood, south of Seattle, make me [...]

Journal Entry: June 27, 7:00 a.m. Jet black crow in the Stewartia tree, and other morning birds singing. The Olympic range makes a ragged, still-snowy horizon to the west. My surroundings are verdant and nearly luminous. It’s a cool, fresh morning… and I’m home. It’s easier this time to leave behind dear Italy, for whom [...]

Friday, June 24 Just after midnight last night I checked into a cheap motel along the highway in Atlanta. I had been traveling and in airports for close to 24 hours and I was tired. The muggy, southern air was heavy and close. I had a discount voucher from the airline for one hotel, but while standing out on [...]