I am William Molina and I’m a student from Holy Family School. I live in Newerk, California. I will try to convince teenagers not to be involved in gangs. Gangs are bad because they can be in jail or get killed. I will explain to them that it is very important to finish school and be educated. I hope you can help teenagers have an education. Thank you for reading my letter. Sincerely, William Molina

I am Ruth Gomez. I am nine. I go to Holy Family School. I live in Redwood City, California. Abortion is the life issue I care most about. This life issue is important to me because the babies don’t get to live. Abortion is also important to me because they don’t get to live in God’s world. A way I can change in my community is by staying away from gangsters. A way I can change at home is by listening to my parents’ commands. A way I can change at school is by listening. A way others can change at their home is by throwing garbage in the trashcan. A way others can change in their school is by studying. A way others can change in their community is by solving their own problems. Thank you, Ruth Gomez

My name is Adan Molina and I go to school at Holy Family School. I live in Redwood City. I want no gangs walking the street. They scare everyone away and they kill each other. It is very wrong to kill and take life away. I promise not to hurt others. I promise not to get involved in gangs and I will not take drugs. I will respect my family and others. Thank you for reading my letter, Adan Molina.

I am Jimmy Burga. I am in 4^th grade. I also go to Holy Family School. I would like all of us to make a big change in the world. So I would like other people to stop polluting the world. They can do that by stop throwing the gasoline down the sewers. They also kill a lot of animals. Some people don’t like that. Remember, we could make a big change in the world. Sincerely, Jimmy Burga

My name is Jessica Palominos. I go to school at Holy Family School. I live in Redwood City, California. The issue I care most about is gangs. I think gangs are a bad example for children. Some children look at gangs and want to be just like them, but if they do we are never going to have a nice community. I think we should talk with kids and tell them what gangs do. Then our world could be a better place. Gangs could look cool sometimes but what they do is not cool. Thank you for reading my letter. Respectfully, Jessica Palominos

My name is Sergio Castro. I go to a school named Holy Family School and I am in 4^th grade. I live in Redwood City, California. The gangs kill the people just because of the color of their clothes. We have too many gangs. They might rule the earth. Many people are killed because of them. The people are scared because gangs may kill them or beat them up. I can stop the gangs by putting up signs that say NO MORE GANGS! I will do this because I am scared of them too. The people can build schools for people to get out of gangs and start a better life or you can make a law to stop gangs. Thank you for reading my letter. Love, Sergio Castro

Hi, my name is Jennifer. I go to Holy Family School. I live in Redwood City. I think that there should not be gangs and drugs. Also, there should be no more violence in our community. This issue is important to me so people do not die. Also, that they do not go to jail. I can change this issue by cleaning up, and by being helpful in our community by doing good things, not bad ones. Others can change it too by not joining gangs or selling drugs for money. Thank you for reading my letter. Sincerely, Jennifer Galeana

My name is Danya Gonzalez. I am ten years old. I also go to Holy Family School. I live in Fremont. I want to be a doctor when I grow up. I really don’t like it when moms abort because each person has their life. I also think that a baby has the right to live. It is important to me because I care about people. It is also important because babies are so cute. I also think that a baby is very special. I wouldn’t have liked it if my mom had to abort. I can change this by telling moms it is not a good idea to abort. That person might think about it and not abort. I might also tell them that their mom did not abort them, so they would think about it and be a good mom. Others can change this by praying and by saying to them to love their son. They might also tell others not to abort. And we can grow our environment. Thank you for reading my letter. Sincerely, Danya Gonzalez

My name is Cesar Salazar. I go to Holy Family School. I live in Redwood City, California. Please stop the killing. Please stop the gangs. They cause a lot of trouble. Put up more cameras so that the United States could be safer. It causes more violence and we lose our people. Can you make speeches so that people can stop the killing and gangs? Make speeches so that everybody could listen. Also stop this killing in prison. Everybody has a life to live. Thank you. Sincerely, Cesar Salazar

My name is Melissa. My school is Holy Family School. I live in East Palo Alto, California. I care about the elderly because when the elderly get hurt I get scared. The elderly are important to me because I care for old people and I love my grandparents. I could change killing in my community by praying for others. Other people can change killing by reading the Bible or doing something that helps. Thank you for reading my letter, Melissa Maza

I am Uriel Lujan and I am an artist. My dream is to paint the Eiffel Tower and to become an artist. I live in Redwood City on Farm Hill Road. The things that I love are caring. As an artist, I want to change my life to a person that helps people. One change I want is to get ride of gangs. Thank you for reading, Uriel Lujan

My name is Diana Cisneros. I go to school at Holy Family School. I live in Redwood City. I don’t want any more gangs. That way we can have peace. Gangs are causing people to get killed. It is important because we don’t want people getting killed. We can call the police when somebody is trying to rob somebody. We can put up signs so they won’t kill. Sincerely, Diana Cisneros

Topics, topics… topics aren’t my primary hindrance. There are myriad subjects to delve into right now. There always are. Time and energy – motivation – that’s what I feel so short on. When my days are so crammed with high-pressure, fast-paced lists of to-do’s, the last thing I want to do is come home and sit in front of a computer. I don’t want this blog to be just another To Do.

Last night I went out with my buddy, Cole, and a bunch of his friends who all share January as their birth month. Fifteen or so of us met at a Japanese steakhouse for some incredible sushi and spicy seafood dishes. Oh my God, if my mouth could orgasm, dinner last night is what that would feel like. So many great flavors! And I had sake for the first time. That did a number on me. Very enjoyable!

Last night I was awoken in the wee hours by my drunk and angry neighbors screaming at each other loud enough for people in LA to hear. This is the third or fourth night a boisterous showdown has taken place across the street. I don’t know what my place is or if there’s anything I can do about it… The woman who lives in the house is in my Bunko group, and she’s a great person. Her two punk sons (both about my age) are the problem. How do you tell someone so nice that her family needs help or, if nothing else, to keep their pejorative opinions quietly to themselves? The restless sleep and violent dreams their quarrels cause me are worrisome.

We spent $1,000 on a plumber at the Center this afternoon. It’s just another of those little annoyances that fill my day and liken me to Stretch Armstrong. Christina was out all day gathering food at the Food Bank and then meeting with architects to discuss future plans for our new facility. We’re in the middle of a three-million-dollar Capital Campaign, with hopes of beginning construction on a three-story building, sometime in the coming year, that would allow us to exponentially expand our services. I might remind you that we are an entirely non-governmental organization, meaning that all of our funds come from individual’s pockets and from foundations/grants. One of the couple dozen hats that Christina wears is that of Grant Writer, and in 2005 I believe she applied for upwards of twenty grants! If you’ve ever taken even the quickest peek at a typical grant application – with its stack of pages inquiring about budget percentages, meticulous demographics, and myriad wanderings about past/present/future endeavors – you’d understand how staggering a number that is. And if you could only step into the whirlwind world of Sr. Christina Heltsley for even two hours at the Center, you’d see what a remarkably accomplished woman she is. The point I want to come back to, after all of this tangential praise of one of the best supervisors I’ve had, is related to the plumber who came in today. Related to Christina being out all day, leaving me in charge and overwhelmed – a feeling that I’m slowly warming up to. (Is that healthy?) The plumber pulled me away from teaching my English class for about 25 minutes, and then spent three hours giving me a headache with his incessant LOUD snaking of our rusty old pipes. Necessary, I know. But really, it’s stressful trying to get anything accomplished in that kind of environment.

Besides today’s isolated annoyance, there are numerous everyday aspects of a non-profit atmosphere that threaten burnout. For instance, our hand-me-down copier is inevitably an island amid bags and bags of groceries, making the simple art of running off worksheets for the kids another feat for Stretch Armstrong and a balancing act that could win somebody a gold medal in the next round of Summer Olympics. I have no desk. My personal space consists of a drawer whose volume is less than twelve cubic feet, and I must pick up and move my laptop and stack of work a half dozen times a day, always dodging the ESL classes and interviews taking place around the clock in our tight quarters. When a non-profit has more people offering to help with services than time and space to accommodate them, you can imagine the frustration that sets in! When I’m wholly aware that my plate is full two or three times over, and I want so badly to say NO to the next thing requested of me, but I concurrently realize that there’s simply nobody/no time/no space for these tasks to get done otherwise, I understand too well that I just need to suck it up, remember to breath, and to concentrate on the worthwhile end that wouldn’t be possible without the tedious means. Oh God, don’t let me lose sight of why you’ve handed me all this…

Oh, a highlight of my day was attending the funeral of Jessica’s ladybug. I paid my respects and blessed the tiny plot laced with fresh blossoms, smiling inside at the joy I reaped from this simple and, in the grand scheme of things, insignificant event. See, Jenn, even the most hectic of days has little nuggets of felicity and gratitude.

For the first time in the five weeks that I’ve been in California, IT RAINED TODAY!!! Omigosh, it was so incredibly wonderful to feel cool, heavy drops of water splashing on my face and to hear a choir of thunderclaps above me. The Sunshine State is great, yes, but the Midwest in me had been aching for some moisture in the air. Although they say we may be in for a long winter, as the rain rarely begins to fall until later in the year, I’m altogether content with Mother Nature at the moment. I even skipped in the puddles this evening :D

My hands reek of basil and garlic. Alyssa and I just finished preparing a pesto vegetable lasagna for tomorrow night’s dinner. She and I are in charge of evening meals for the house this week, and it’s been quite an audacious smorgasbord so far. On Monday we experimented with tofu, which I’d eaten a few times before but had never cooked myself. We had some trouble with the barbecue grill, so had to plan B our recipe and use the frying pan. It turned out tasty and was accompanied by a Kashi seven-grain blend with grilled peppers. Luckily, our housemates enjoy being guinea pigs and have fairly open minds and palettes. Tonight we cooked black bean, corn, bell pepper, and tomato tacos, and tomorrow’s lasagna calls for pesto, which I decided to make from scratch, which is why my hands smell like basil and garlic, which is why my mouth is watering, which is why I’m talking about food… I’m having fun trying different vegetarian recipes. (I changed my diet about 2 ½ months ago – if you’re curious as to why… that’s another journal entry!)

I went to the dentist today because one of my upper molars has been aching off and on for over a week. This was the first time I’d been to a new dentist in about 19 years, but Christina had referred me to him so I knew he’d be at least as good as Dr. Schulte. To be honest, I was worried about having my first cavity and felt ashamed of not having brushed and flossed enough. Silly to worry, I realized that. Anyway, to make a long story short, Dr. Alvarado was one of the most sincere, compassionate physicians/dentists I’d ever met and, after taking X-rays and poking around in my mouth for a few minutes, he saw nothing wrong with my teeth or gums. Turns out that my toothache was related to inflamed sinuses caused by whatever cold I’ve had since Thursday. Interesting. Good to know. As I left his office, I couldn’t tell if the smile on my face was in response to being cavity-free, to the Doc’s candor, or to the drops of rain beginning to fall.

As you can tell, things have dramatically improved since my post on Friday. I’ve refocused my energy and been able to remind myself of my motivations through prayer and reflection. Christina and Sue were gone all weekend at Christina’s dad’s house, so we all had some physical distance and time to simmer down and reconcile. This week started off very optimistically and is still gathering momentum, both at work and at home. I have the privilege of leading morning and evening prayers on Mondays, and before I write what I shared yesterday morning, I’d like to say something about last week’s Gospel, which was about the centurion who wants Jesus to heal his sick servant. He considers himself unworthy to receive Christ into his home, so he sends messengers out to him and, in the end, Jesus heals the servant from afar, owing his mercy to the centurion’s great faith. From this passage (Lk 7:1-10), we derive the part of the Mass that follows: "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed." Firstly, I always wondered what THE WORD was… Secondly, I’ve always had a very difficult time understanding this implied worthless nature of God’s children because we have all been called to his supper and are blessed with his boundless love. It was awkward for me to lead a reflection about a passage to which I felt so strongly opposed. I sort of beat around the bush, remembering that Jesus did spend most of his time with and chose as his church the most "unworthy" and "undeserving" of all.

Yesterday’s Gospel was Luke 8:16-18. This passage seemed like a complete 180 from the previous week’s, and I stand by it so strongly that I want to share my reflection with you, verse by verse. No one lights a lamp and hides it in a jar or puts it under a bed. Instead, he puts it on a stand, so that those who come in can see the light. Imagine that you had an marvelous gift or some incredible insight that could change the world: a cure for AIDS; houses, employment, and health care for all those suffering from Katrina’s devastation; a peaceful solution for all nations at war; an alternative, affordable, and eco-friendly fuel. Who would want to withhold knowledge like that? Such is the gift of God’s love. Jesus, God’s human counterpart, manifested that love for all to see, hear, and breathe. People who know of and believe in God’s compassion and mercy should have an overwhelming desire to share this extraordinary gift of love with others. For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. God knew us intimately even before our conception and had a plan in mind for each of us before bringing us into the world. He knows our every thought, motivation, need, and want. We would be arrogant to think that there is anything we can hide from him. Likewise, our earthly relationships should model utter honesty and geniality to the same degree. Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Just as we can hide nothing from God, there is absolutely nothing that God desires to withhold from us! He showers us with his grace, which is evidenced in his creation all around us. WE must listen to HIM. So often we concern ourselves with petitions soliciting his intervention in our lives, despite the unacknowledged blessings that abound in our midst. We must learn to listen with our ears, our eyes, our hearts, and our hands to fully appreciate God’s agape for us. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he thinks he has will be taken from him. Whoever has what? More of what? The author of Luke doesn’t say. But I’m reminded of the materialistic world of consumerism in which we live. We desire bigger homes, more luxurious cars, smarter investments, cheaper labor, more power, influence, and prestige. We get lost in the race of HAVING all that we NEED when, in fact, we ought to NEED what we HAVE. If what we have is more and more material wealth, we will never have enough. If, on the other hand, what we possess are knowledge and acceptance of God’s love, we are far richer than any millionaire on the planet.

Be a beacon of God’s goodness for all you meet! You are for me!
I wish you peace… AND RAIN!!  :P

Today’s been rough. I’m coming down with something; my throat is sore, I have a constant headache, and my whole body aches. Blah…

The honeymoon period of my new life here is definitely over. In a way, this week has been a reality check for me. Responsibilities are real, deadlines matter, and lessons take planning. I have typical concerns about work at the Center, about feeling like I’ve been handed too much, about lacking in the area of discipline with the kids. I expected those kinds of struggles.

What’s getting me down is the difficulty of living in community with Christina, Sue, and Alyssa. Living on my own for a year in St. Louis has changed my habits and my standards for home life; I never had to be accountable to anybody else, never had to accommodate others’ schedules. My apartment was my apartment and I had the liberty to do whatever the heck I wanted to do. However, the entire year that I spent living by myself, I was lonely for companionship, missed sharing dinners with people and, at times, even avoided going home because I knew there’d be nobody there to welcome me.

Now that I have what I missed so much before, I’m feeling… suffocated! With all the time that we spend in morning prayer, at work, at dinner, and in evening prayer, I hardly have time for myself. Furthermore, when I do take time out and shut my door to write letters, listen to music, or read, I feel that my housemates receive me as selfish and cold.

Christina confronted me today – at work – about an issue at home. Wednesday was really rough for me, and I’d even talked about my feelings with both Christina and Sue at work, but by the time we sat down to dinner that night, I was feeling very introverted and hardly felt like talking. Turns out Christina took my behavior very personally, feeling that she’d done something wrong and that I was giving her the silent treatment. She went on and on about the pain I’d caused her by not participating in conversation during dinner, but I’d had no idea I’d seemed so standoffish. Thing is, it wasn’t only the tension at work that was bothering me. I’d also spent time and energy thinking about other things going on in my life – relationships with friends and family, faith questions, career/postgraduate decisions – and all of this was weighing on me, too. When so much is going on within me, I cope by becoming introverted, especially when my closest confidantes are nowhere near to hear me out. I tried to be clear about this when talking with Christina today, and we’ve made a few changes to my schedule at work, so hopefully the tension in the air will soon disperse.

Will tell more stories about the past week tomorrow...

Hello friends!

Considering two weeks have gone by since my last post, I've got quite a bit to share, so let's get to it :)

At the Center, we receive tons of donations daily, mostly consisting of food, clothing, new toys, and books. Every now and then, somebody will call wanting to drop off furniture, bikes, appliances, etc., which are all items we don’t accept unless we have a family on our list specifically requesting them. Among the volunteers who work with us, there’s an understanding that if something is given to the Center, the volunteers sorting the donations that day are able to take one or two things that they need/want, within reason. In the almost four weeks that I’ve been at the Center, there have been several times when I’ve verbalized needing/wanting something specific, and before I even have the chance to make the purchase, it will magically be donated to us! For example, we will soon be replacing many of our kitchen appliances and remodeling the kitchen at home, so the sisters and I were brainstorming alternative ways (and places) to cook when the time came. I offered that we might buy one of those electric hot pots that can boil two or so quarts of water. Wouldn’t you know that just that item showed up at the Center within a few days?! Also, I’ve talked a lot about the bikes, yeah? I’m thankful that we have several at the house, but frustrated that all of them are mountain bikes. Since I’m planning to cycle quite a bit while I’m out here, I had even gone so far as to wonder how much it might cost to have my own bike shipped from Kansas. With that in mind, you can imagine my excitement last week when a donor dropped off two adult road bikes in good condition! We gave one away and took the other home. I replaced both inner tubes and tires, but couldn’t adjust the brakes quite right, so I wasn’t able take this one out on a ride just yet. Among other things I’ve brought home from the Center, that I would’ve likely bought anyway, are a CamelBak, pair of bike shorts, a couple of carabiners, and a manual of Mac tutorials (I’m still trying to persuade myself that Macs are useful machines). It’s amazing how the world works sometimes!

While I’m on the topic of cycling, I finally went on a ride yesterday! I’d been so anxious for it, but the best bike we had was in the shop for over two weeks waiting on a part. We got it back on Friday, so between it and the "new" road bike, I knew I was in for an adventure this weekend. The road bike wasn’t in tip-top shape yet, so I took the best of the rest. I almost didn’t even care that it was a mountain bike, I was soooo excited to just ride! The route that’d been suggested to me by a volunteer at work took me south on Woodside to Cañada, which runs past the reservoir on the way to San Francisco. The first half of the ride was mostly uphill with a headwind, and about ten minutes in I remember wondering what the hell I thought I was doing and considered turning back. Even in St. Louis, I never took the bike on a ride longer than about ten miles at once; it was mostly used for transportation to and from work and school. Within the first half-hour, it became very apparent to me how out of shape I was, but I just kept pushing. The reservoir’s beauty took my breath away when I came upon it, and by the time I decided to turn around and head home, the fog was already rolling over the mountains and the air getting cooler. Let me tell you, that tailwind pushing me home was great! I was so happy to be riding that I found myself singing at the top of my lungs! Of course, when I’d pass somebody walking the trail paralleling Cañada, I’d be a bit embarrassed, but I’d go right on belting out lyrics. At one point, I even made up a country melody and lyrics of my own:

That was essentially the chorus I’d keep coming back to, and then I’d make up verses about missing the cows and the corn but loving the fog and the hills, about remembering rides to the Louisburg cider mill but looking forward to rides along the ocean. When I was ten I rode my first MS150 with my dad, and since my fourth tour in 1996 I haven’t really done much long-distance riding. Now here I was again, pedaling along and thinking of my dad, who was riding the MS150 this very weekend in Missouri for the 20-odd time. When I made it back home after being out for about two hours, I checked the mileage of my route using MapQuest, thinking that I’d gone maybe 20 miles. I was surprised to find that I’d actually gone 30, but glad to know that I was in such good shape. I treated myself to a hot bath with Epsom salts to relax my muscles, along with about a gallon of water to rehydrate. My muscles aren’t terribly sore this morning, and I can’t wait to ride again :D

Back to the vacation (and this was truly a vacation!)... We spent Friday night at Todd's parents' house in Redding. Ron and Mary Lou are absolutely amazing people, and right away I felt like part of the family. On that note, I spent the weekend being called "Auntie Jenn" by two-year-old Joshie and his parents. Have I ever said how much I LOVE kids?! Joshie and I spent hours looking at the choo-choo bridge, making music with rocks in a plastic bottle, burying things in dirt, making rain with leaves, and reaching up to "touch" the bridges and power lines as we rode under them in the boat. Our group of eleven headed off to Lake Shasta on Saturday morning, intending to spend two nights camping at a site accessible only by boat. This was only my third time water-skiing, and I improved about 800%! Maybe I'm being vain, but before I'd never even managed to pull myself up out of the water, and then there I was jumping the wakes back and forth like a pro :D The nighttime campfire was fun. Kabobs, smores, and the banana boat of all banana boats reminded me of the great times I had this summer at Dwight Mission in Oklahoma.

Everything was fun and carefree until Todd and Ryan decided to get fancy in the water on Sunday afternoon. They were both on single skis attached to the boat with separate ropes, and at one point they decided to try crossing paths. That was when they both went down, and it wasn’t until we swung the boat around to pick them up that we realized Todd was badly hurt and needed immediate medical attention. To make a long story short, we spent seven hours in the ER. The rope had clotheslined Todd, leaving a terrible burn across his neck. One side was significantly more swollen than the other and the palpitations of his artery were very pronounced, leading the doctor to order a CAT scan to see whether or not emergency surgery was needed. Fortunately, the results from the test were favorable, but now it was time for the doctor to turn her attention to the bone-deep gash on Todd’s chin. If I’d not eaten something while we were waiting for the CAT scan results, I may have fainted when I saw the wound. It took her an hour and sixteen meticulous sutures to make him whole again, and all the while I was wondering how in the world she was going to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Needless to say, we did not return to the lake that night, but instead went home to rest and thank God that things hadn’t been worse.

I arrived home just before midnight on Monday, hoping to have been back about five hours earlier because I still had the week’s lesson plans to prepare. I sucked it up and woke up early Tuesday morning to finish, realizing that sometimes that’s the trade-off for having a little fun with friends! The beginning of this past week was quite hectic, considering the emotional trauma I’d been through with Todd. Moreover, the kids were still on vacation mode when I started religion class at 8:10, and attempting to tame them was a lost cause. Miss Jenn revealed her stern side, but to little avail. I have a lot to learn about teaching; the classroom is so different than a summer camp environment. I sought some advice from various people about effective instructional and disciplinary approaches, knowing that no changes can be made overnight, but nevertheless anxious to entertain new strategies. By Friday the kids were angels, but I’m sure that was largely coincidental and not based on much I’d done differently.

I’m still making up my own lesson plans for Spanish since the textbooks are yet to arrive. This past week I focused on the parts of the body and the verb tener, "to have." The kids are on such varying levels of proficiency that it’s difficult to challenge the more advanced students while not leaving behind the others. I guess that’s how all classes are, though. You’ve always got the "smart" kids and the "slow" kids to accommodate, and I suppose that together they account for the "average" that statistics are so concerned with. On Friday we were correcting their homework in class, and I wrote on the board, "El hombre tiene una cabeza." The man has one head – well, duh, but for the purposes of the class… Little Sergio raised his hand and explained that his mom had checked his homework and that the correct spelling of "head" was caveza. I had run across this spelling mistake before in working with Spanish speakers. I knew that although people frequently interchanged v and b, it was a syntactical mistake to do so. I was careful not to discredit Sergio’s mother, especially since she was taking an active role in furthering his education at home (which many mothers neglect to do), but I explained that the dictionary spelling uses a b. The awkwardness of the situation was not seated in being challenged by Sergio – in fact, I would be alarmed if my students never questioned what they learned – but, rather, in not wanting him to think less of his mother because of anything I said. I know I don’t know everything (the Spanish word for "fin," for example), and I don’t presume to, so there’s a certain discomfort for me in taking on this role of the omniscient teacher that I’m expected to be.

Included in the religion curriculum last week were the Beatitudes. I noticed the kids having trouble saying the word, so I encouraged them to think of it as "be-attitude." Well, that interpretation inspired a lively round of "When I say ‘BE’ you say ‘ATTITUDE.’" The discussion that followed was so neat! We talked about different kinds of attitudes with which people treat each other, and I could tell that they really understood the Beatitudes not merely as impersonal biblical verses, but as a way that they could change their attitudes about others to live more like Jesus. It was so cool! We talked about the Kingdom of God as something found not only in the afterlife, but also in the here and now. We touched on the issues of peace and justice, albeit on a fourth-grade level, and I told them stories about Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador, about how he, like Jesus, was killed for standing up for others. The mental picture of their complete captivation as I narrated will serve as a reassuring reminder that we are truly making a difference in each other’s lives, one story at a time.

Gosh, I could go on and on with stories! Just one more quickie before I wrap up this novelette. Mother Nature flipped the seasonal switch last week. On Tuesday the sun was shining and the air warm, but Wednesday’s skies were suddenly grey, the wind cool, and the first leaves falling. Autumn hastened upon Redwood City overnight without so much as a hint of the typical Indian summer highs. It was humorous to see the curbs and gutters fill with leaves so abruptly but, in the same breath, being so pleasantly graced with the sun and blue skies this weekend is something I haven’t taken for granted, now that fall is upon us!

Peace be upon you!
Until next time :)