Life Style & Travel

HOLLYWOOD—It happens when you get in a cottage courtyard and stick around long enough: somebody dies who's been here forever. It happens while the lamp is on and close enough to be heard clear as if someone was rotating a spoon in a bone-china cup. Those who keep moving on as the majority of Americans do (we move on...

UNITED STATES—There may not be a good time to talk about it this year. The late warmth really put a damper on some of the autumn foliar color. Some trees are dropping their leaves as soon as they start to turn color, leaving only fading green leaves in their canopies. Only the most reliable trees for autumn color, sweetgum,...

UNITED STATES—Gloria must have overheard when I spoke longingly about the enduring allure of a manual typewriter. I have been editing a volume which contains a old story written on my beloved Olivetti, and the process reflected these musings, both nostalgic and speculative, about literary technology. "Technology takes over our lives," demurred Manny the tech guy, who confirmed that Gloria,...

UNITED STATES—Of all the gardening chores, planting dormant bulbs is probably the least gratifying. All we do is dig a hole to the required depth and width, set a few unimpressively dormant bulbs with the correct orientation and spacing, and then fill the hole with the same soil that was removed from it. The process gets repeated until all...

UNITED STATES—It’s stepping into a world filled with darkness, where everything is hostile and nothing is safe. That’s the basis for "The Evil Within 2," a game that takes the original and upgrades it in almost every way. The game still follows Sebastian Castellanos, a now-retired cop who has turned to drinking to forget his losses. The Mobius agency...

UNITED STATES—An offer from another chain store came for the drug store, and my parents welcomed it. Capitulating to one of the chains was still not the most desirable ending to 44 years of service. Then a young eager pharmacist, interested in taking over the pharmacy, reappeared. He would preserve the Johnson name, its independence and assure continuity. It seemed...

UNITED STATES—Before the storms of winter get here, it might be a good time to make arrangements to get some help for big trees that need it. Smaller trees that can be reached from the ground may not need anything that we cannot do ourselves. It is the big trees that have grown beyond our reach that may need...

UNITED STATES—In one way the earthquake had been a blessing in disguise for the drug store. People were actually happier with the new little pharmacy where they could call in the prescription, park their car right out in front, pick up their prescription and be off, but still not without that touch of camaraderie that was Johnson Drug’s signature. Also,...

UNITED STATES—There is no time that is best to clean the gutters on the eaves. They should probably be cleaned early before the debris within them gets dampened by the first rains. However, they will only need to be cleaned out again after more foliage falls. If cleaned only after all the foliage falls, they will be grungier, and...

UNITED STATES—Terrible rains came. Unhoused people in tents in the high school field got drenched. At my parents’ house they worked in the rain to board the hole in front where there had been a chimney. “Dad kind of stood around and watched,” my mom noted. He shut down with the earthquake. It still comes up in conversation that...