by Carolyn Bickford
As 2020, the first year of the pandemic came to a close, our neighbor invited us to close out the year on his nicely-heated back porch. As we watched New Year’s Rockin’ Eve on the TV he had over the fireplace, we realized we were all living the dystopia of the Hunger Games. Our horrified…
We had a memorable night last Wednesday, which started with a concert in downtown San Jose, and ended with meeting a serial cat killer in front of our house. Peter and I went out to see My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, a band we’ve been seeing live since their Sexplosion tour. At that…
In 2011, my family and I went to the San Jose Museum of Art and made sugar skulls as part of their community day celebrating Dia de los Muertos. As we pulled them out for our Halloween decorations this year, Kelly was nostalgic, and asked to do it again. This year, the festivity took place…
I found myself surprisingly infuriated when yesterday a friend told me about a near-attack from a vicious dog, with an even more vicious owner. According to him, he was out and about one day when an unleashed dog ran up to him, barking and snarling. In self-defense, he grabbed his can of pepper spray, whereupon…
Until recently, the Mexican Day of the Dead was something I’d only read about in old Ray Bradbury stories. More recently, it’s become an artsy event for urban Californians, and this year we went to the San Jose Art Museum for their Day of the Dead festival. One of the highlights for us was making…
Last week, Liz (the daughter of our former neighbors) called me to tell me her father, Dave, had suddenly collapsed and subsequently died. It was a big shock. Dave and his wife BJ had both taken early retirement to go live on their rural ranch just a few years ago. And in May, I’d visited…