Once upon a time, a very long time ago when I was energetic and fearless, I took my three children, aged 12, 14 and 15 to Europe. Being a penny-pincher, I joined the German American Friendship Club and got four plane tickets to Germany for $200 apiece.

I worked so hard to lose a ton of weight, only to watch pounds creep back on because Sees, Fritos, Baskin Robbins Pralines and Cream, Cosco pizza, White Castles and Cheddar Cheese Popcornopolis don’t make “lite” products. 

The book I’m currently reading is a novel titled "The Guest Book" by Sarah Blake. It’s the tale of a New York clan who once   bought a small island in Maine. It was inexpensive to buy in the 1930s, but the present day heirs are having a hard time hanging on to it. 

I come from a long line of non-cooks.

Q: With all the restrictions for COVID-19 prevention right now, I feel as if my life is on hold. I know staying home as much as possible, limiting contacts, staying away from crowds and, of course, wearing masks and social distancing is necessary. But I feel lonely and sometimes depressed, s…

There are moments when you realize you were a spoiled brat growing up. There are also moments when you realize how much your parents loved you.

Football is as American as apple pie.

I used to go to a small writing workshop on Wednesdays. Six or eight of us met in a room at the library for a couple of hours. 

I’ve always loved living in the country, but never more so than during this endless lockdown.

We’ve all had “that” experience with music.

People who care for loved ones with dementia, especially when those loved ones are relatives, are often also concerned about whether they will develop dementia themselves.

Silver linings, signs of hope during the coronavirus lockdown, have been the simple moments in my life that have brought tears to my eyes, touched my heart and made me count my blessings.

I never was much of a TV watcher.

Q: I am getting so tired of living with this pandemic. I have cabin fever.

I refuse to be undone from the latest pandemic setbacks. 

For anyone who wondered why I wrote last week’s piece all about cars, here’s your answer.

Karl Barth, probably the most important Protestant theologian since Martin Luther, observed that the task of the preacher was to hold “the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other.”

I got my drivers license in 1949 when I turned seventeen, the legal age for driving in New Jersey at that time.

Q: How long will this coronavirus pandemic go on? My doctor told me he removed a precancerous polyp last January, and wanted me to repeat a colonoscopy in one year, but I’m afraid of medical facilities, so I haven’t scheduled it, or any of my blood tests or annual exams.

In a little more than seven weeks, school is scheduled to start on the Peninsula for more than 11,000 students. But unlike the usual beginning-of- the-school-year questions of where’s my locker, will any of my friends be in my classes and who are my teachers, my daughter is dealing with only…

In March, in commentary I wrote for the Palos Verdes Peninsula News on “Churches and Coronavirus,” I quoted a communiqué from the Archbishop of Los Angeles: “This week, the State of California declared a state of emergency to help the state prepare for and contain the spread of the virus. Ho…

Wow, so much has happened since orders were first issued to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

These are tumultuous days and I am following news events closely, but not with much joy. I was about worn out with emotions when my son arrived for a short visit, bringing his new kitten.

"Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!"

This week I was going to write about my dismay when I heard Pier One was going out of business. Where, I wondered, was I going to buy my next back scratcher?

Because of the pandemic my faithful house cleaner had not been coming for weeks and weeks and weeks.

Q: It’s been so nice since beaches and businesses have reopened. Does this mean we’ve beaten the coronavirus?A: Nothing has changed with the coronavirus, it is still extremely contagious and can be transmitted person to person through various sized droplets or from surface to person.We were …

Day 57 in isolation funk. Are anyone else’s toenails dragging on the ground? 

Ewww, no, I thought, waking up to another day of lockdown.

As May 15 looms with the anticipation of  L.A.’s shelter-in-place order lifted, you can all but hear a collective sigh of relief from parents.

Another week has rolled around and we’re still stuck at home. Not too much to say on that topic for now. But when I caught sight of a dark blue sky thorough my window, I ventured outside. There’s plenty going on out there.We’ve had a banner spring, a mixture of sun and rain that’s unusual fo…

To be honest, it never occurred to me I would be president of the California News Publisher's Association, and without a journalism pedigree, writing a column seems ... weird. But my entire 21 years in the newspaper business has been bloody well full of unexpected turns.

This past year was my first living alone. Like many women my age, I'd gone from living with my family away to school and then away to college. I had roommates at both places. In college, there were six of us playing bridge and swapping stories far into the night.

Well people, coronavirus social distancing is getting a bit old, isn’t it? 

Do not call 911 because you ran out of toilet paper. This is a stern warning from the Newport, Oregon, Police Department.

How great to be stuck at home by order of my state governor!

The news has been inundated with reports about the spread of the coronavirus.

So are you one of the people who’s standing in gruesomely long lines at Costco, buying water and toilet paper in case the coronavirus spreads? Or at least trying to buy them, since they seem to be as sold out as if a hurricane were hitting Florida.

Imagine a remote town in a cold and windswept place that has grown so small only a handful of people remain.

If I had to list one of the most challenging skills parents have to teach their children, time management would definitely be at the top.