ÓÅÃÛ´«Ã½

Last Sunday we had a celebration of life for John David Merrill, Sue's dad and my father-in-law, in the club room at the ÓÅÃÛ´«Ã½ Racquet Club. Herb Benham IV sang "Live Forever" by Billy Joe Shaver and "Blue Star," a Willie Nelson piece. John loved Willie Nelson. His niece Trish Merrill …

It started at 2:14 p.m. The moon took a bite out of the sun. Just a nibble, like an appetizer.

Jeff Pickering was in town last week. Jeff now lives in Vero Beach, Fla., where he runs the Indian River Community Foundation. In addition to Jeff and his family — wife Stephanie and kids Colin, Olivia and Grant — Indian River is home to some of the best citrus in the country, especially the…

As Sal Moretti predicted in a column on Monday, it has been a great week for tennis, with the ÓÅÃÛ´«Ã½ Racquet Club hosting the ÓÅÃÛ´«Ã½ Tennis Open.

Sam Ames may be quietly doing more for ÓÅÃÛ´«Ã½'s image than just about anybody. Ames, who manages Action Sports, is the founder and architect of the recently run 11th annual Rock Cobbler bike ride.

I have many fond memories of Pete Tittl, the longtime restaurant critic for ÓÅÃÛ´«Ã½, who retired recently. The first was 30 years ago when he told me to open a 401(k).

He loved orange cones. He had a big one in his garage. He wasn't afraid to use it with his son-in-law.

Calls at 3 o'clock in the morning are rarely good. Somebody has been in an accident, somebody has been arrested, somebody is up to no good.

There is nothing sweeter than the desert in the winter.

Christmas. Past and present. It's always been my favorite holiday.

I'm starting to cook again. I don't know whether that's good or bad. Depends on who you ask and on what night you ask them.

My brother Mark was telling me he'd been to Mammoth to see Mom. He had another Mom story to add to the library.

I'm not sure I've ever gotten more responses than I did a few weeks ago when I mentioned that I have been suffering from depression and that I have spent the last nine months in psychiatric facilities.

I have seen both sides now. The good, the bad, the up and the down. I've seen it and I can tell you I prefer the up and the good.

There are a thousand stories about the ÓÅÃÛ´«Ã½ Racquet Club, which will celebrate its 75th anniversary on Oct. 21.

How sweet is this rain? Driving in from the desert, flying over Breckenridge and Bear Mountain, walking by the bike path, green everywhere. No brown, no evidence of past fires, just carpets and hillsides of green.

Going to Smith's Bakeries is like going to church. It can be a religious experience. It makes you want to give thanks, burst into song and shout hallelujah.

We had dinner at our house recently. I found myself sitting with three young couples, all in their 30s. Wine was flowing and so was the conversation.

A friend texted me from San Diego. His news carrier has given notice. After 15 years of delivering the paper, he can't do it anymore.

There are plenty of reasons not to bake bread, including the fact that you can buy it at the store. Trader Joe's sells good bread as does Baker's Outpost and grocery stores have Dave's Killer Bread, which toasts well, butters up nicely and welcomes honey, strawberry jam or peanut butter.

"Dad, you need a new bed," Herbie said. "It's a game changer."

I looked out the back window of our house. Something looked different. Something had changed.

Recently, I got a letter from the IRS. Correspondence with the IRS can be buried in a sea of catalogs, an ocean of PG&E bills, a reservoir of letters from the Social Security Administration, Medicare and credit card companies, hoping to tempt you to transfer your credit card balance "wit…

My friends were impressed.

This is a miracle, the miracle for which I have been looking. Maybe it's the start of something and if not, at least we can see that miracles are possible.

Fog. Remember it used to be like this.

Would this be the year I'd fall off the wall on the front porch while stringing up the evergreen garland and white twinkly lights? If 2022 weren't memorable enough, falling backward into the scratchy pink bushes would do the job and serve as a catchy first line in next year's Christmas letter.

It was probably time to sell the truck five years ago but with trucks you don't want to make any sudden moves.

Sarah was standing by the wrought-iron gate when I arrived. Rob's truck was parked in the driveway like a horse awaiting its master.

We have new neighbors next door.

The magic trick is turning a less-than-lighthearted subject into something that will bear fruit like the sweet pomegranate tree in our front yard.

I raised my heavily muscled arms, arms which I've always been proud of, and then rolled my shoulders forward as if my shoulders were stiff, which they were but that's not why I rolled them.

Success story. We can't have too many of those. This victory march ended recently at Jeffrey Cowan's wedding, surrounded by people who had been through the good and the not-so-good. It was time to celebrate.

I walked down 20th Street. Something I've done a million times but this was different. No assault from the sun. The ankle-biting mosquitoes seem to be hanging on, but I'll trade the absence of one for the presence of the other. There is hardly anything better than a leisurely walk on a cool day.

Toward the end of our last visit south to see our grandkids Andrew, 7, and 5-year-old Lillian, Sue said, "I want to give you a two-minute warning."

I'm invisible. Even if you want to see me, you can't. I'm three-quarters gone and a one-quarter hanging on by my disappearing fingernails.

What happened to my parking skills? They've gone to the birds and the birds have flown south.

It was one of those "where were you when" moments. Where were you when you heard the news that Roger Federer was retiring from tennis?

Eventually you will cry on the Camino. That's a given. It's just a matter of when.

Travel is an adventure — a contact sport too — but who knew that sleep would be near the top of the sporting list on our recent nine-day, 62-mile pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago in Spain.

Soon I will be on a pilgrimage. Friends might be surprised and say to themselves, "Hasn't he been on one all along?"

No one moved Manuel Calvin out of the paint. Only God could do that and even then, it wasn't easy.

I have a bump on my left thigh. It's not attractive. I used to be perfect. What happened?

I was at Dodger Stadium recently with friends. One treated me to a Dodger ticket, somebody else bought the beer so it was my turn. "My turn" to unfurl the wings of my situational generosity.

Where are the birds? Did they fly south? North? East or west?

"Papa, can you take my tooth out?" Andrew said.

The fence is almost straight. Straight, if you close one eye. Straight, if you close the other. Straight, if you close both eyes and the crooked shall be made straight.

It's good to get the old girl back. I'm talking about Charlie at Westchester Barber Shop. The shop's near the old Pep Boys on 24th Street, which is now becoming another auto parts store and "so it goes."

There is a moment before you tumble off a bike, when you think you might save it, stay upright and continue as if it were a close call but not a fatal one and, in doing so, not besmirch your athletic resume and cycling reputation. Heroic effort comes with a cost. What was bad will often be m…