My eldest stepped out of the car yesterday in a brand new lemon-yellow school shirt and khaki shorts, holding a bag full of pencils, gummy erasers, round-end scissors, Elmers glue, etc. Before I could even catch him for a kiss, Kai was up the stairs and gone to his first day of first grade. At least he was smiling, which is more than I can say for my wife and me. As we drove away, Jodi told me she felt nervous and out of sorts. About what exactly, she could not say. Today is

There’s an old adage that you should have one friend twice your age and one friend half your age. Actually, I just made that up. But it’s true. Because wisdom comes in two flavors, youthful purity and seasoned equanimity. We are born as perfect bowls, full of the water of life. Then, as awareness punctures our skins, we become colanders. But hey … try to make a good bowl of pasta without either. One magical factor living five years on a houseboat was the age range of our neig

“Why is there no 13th floor on that building?” my 5-yr-old son asked, his head tilted back. Sure enough, spray-painted on the side of the tall, fancy, under-construction hotel were large, red numbers for each floor level. They skipped from 12 to 14. “Some people believe 13 is an unlucky number, so some buildings don’t have 13th floors,” I said. “But why?” my boy pressed. Another vexing inquiry from the objective observer. I’m not superstitious. I’ll swagger under every ladde

I currently live in a 2600 square foot home that I consider a mansion after five years on a 928 sf Sausalito houseboat. Mind you, I’ll probably never live in a more enchanted place than that floating, 2-story, light-soaked masterpiece. We had to walk two full city blocks straight into the Bay to reach our front door. We made our first son there. And our second. And enjoyed many a glass of rosé standing atop the roof at sunset. There was nothing boaty about the handsome grey s

Excerpted from my upcoming book, A Lonely Fool’s Masterpiece: Jodi admired the series of horizontal weathered lumber and driftwood pieces strung together vertically. This rudimentary torso hung freely and moved subtly in the breeze. The upper pieces were broader and stouter, and they tapered as they descended to create the rough form of a body. Baling wire connected the pieces, so that, instead of being perfectly vertical, these anthropomorphic figures had a bit of kinetic to