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SHARING SPACE Twice in the last week while taking walks, I crossed paths with this handsome buck. It’s humbling sharing space with wildlife. But not always… PREVIOUS ENTRY NEXT ENTRY

AH, TO BE IN PARIS… Just got a brief e-letter from BFF Jeannie in Paris. Weather is getting chilly but the day before was nice and sunny, so she and her husband went to Luxembourg Gardens to read for a while. She also sent this photo: “…the view from the Saint-Sulpice church (we took a 2 ½-hour tour of the ‘high parts’ of the church).” La tour Eiffel evokes such romance, doesn’t it? Then I grabbed my phone and went outside to take a pic of the brass Eiffel Tower I bought off a souvenir stand during my trip to Paris in 1984. I almost passed it up because we were seeing “thousands” of them everywhere we went. I could pick one up anywhere before I leave, I thought. But my gut told me to grab it while I could. Now it sits on a table outside under the big oak tree. Whenever I get a glimpse of it through the kitchen and dining room windows, I smile Ah, to be in Paris… PREVIOUS ENTRY NEXT ENTRY

A few weeks ago, in the middle of the week, my dear friend Valerie and I finally pulled off the simple feat of getting together. It took years (including the “year” of Covid), but we did it. Time just gets away from us as we live our busy day-to-day lives. But we can only text and message so much! A beautiful and busy grandmother of five gorgeous grandchildren, Valerie lives near San Juan Capistrano. I live in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains –- our oft-logistical challenge to “doing lunch.” But nothing would stop us this time. Valerie was keen to get up to the Pasadena area. We didn’t meet at a restaurant but chose the tranquil setting of the renowned Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino. Meeting for a 12:00 Noon lunch at the café there, then walking the gardens and art galleries couldn’t be more perfect. But truth be told, we never made it to the art galleries. In fact, we didn’t properly tour the multiple gardens there – a testament to a reunion that was long overdue. The serene gardens were simply the setting. As soon as we stepped out of the café after lunch, we set out on the paved walkway towards the spectacular Chinese Garden. Cement paths soon intersected with dirt trails. But immersed in conversation (we had decades of catching up to do!) and oblivious to other visitors around us, we kept walking and let the winding passageways lead us any which way. We did come up for air, though, to admire the garden’s stunning lake, architecture, and intricate tile work on the ground. Then, in mid-stream conversation, we plopped ourselves onto concrete steps, carried on chatting, and managed to take a few selfies. What we hadn’t realized, though, was that we were blocking the way to another level of the garden – but visitors were kind not to interrupt us and took another path (thank you!). Later, we snagged a nice visitor to take our photo – for posterity, of course 😊. Finally, I blurted, “I’m ready for a coffee, are you?” It was unanimous. I remembered the nice coffee shop at the entrance. Time flew as we lingered longer in the outdoor patio, Valerie with an iced coffee, me with a frothy cappuccino. Before long, we spotted maintenance crew cleaning up around us. The clock was about ready to strike 5 o’clock – closing time! Egads, I cannot remember the last time I went an entire afternoon without checking the time. This spoke so much about our friendship of 40 years. We met in Lamaze class when we were first-time expectant moms. My daughter and her son will celebrate their 40th birthdays this year. Oy vey! Valerie also has a beautiful daughter. We did a lot together in our early years. And something I looked forward to every Christmas was Valerie’s homemade mincemeat pies, a recipe from her native England. We rationed them out and savored every morsel! And I will never forget Valerie’s generosity when she insisted that I stay with her parents in Derby in the Midlands of England. I was embarking on my first trip to Europe (by way of London) to visit my American friend, Jeannie, who was living in Paris. I was absolutely touched by the kindness and loving hospitality of Valerie’s parents who -- having never met us before -- welcomed me (and Louie’s aunt, Magdalena, my travel partner) into their home. I will forever remember the image of Peggy and Jim standing on the platform waiting for us to arrive at the train station. If there is a definition of “quality time,” our reunion was it. Can’t wait until our next afternoon at The Huntington. PREVIOUS ENTRY NEXT ENTRY

Check out my recently published story on TraveLife: http://www.travelife.ca/DESTINATIONS/UnitedStates2/tabid/540/ArticleID/2602/Californias-Claremont-gets-passing-grades.aspx Be sure to view the Photo Gallery below, which contains many more colorful images -- that complement the limited number of photos in the published story! Photo Gallery

The Enlightened One “I want everything to be as good as possible. Nothing else.” “If I can be nice, I think all of us can be nice, too.” “I want everyone to smile.” From the mouths of babes. Don’t ever believe someone when they say toddlers don’t understand what is going on around them. This is a time when I am grateful for YouTube. Early one morning when I viewed the video link below about a toddler urging her divorced parents to get along with each other, I teared up. ALL adults should heed her wise words, I thought to myself. I’m also thankful for her mother who was quick to record her child’s astounding words midstream… Then I shared the video with a young woman I highly respect. Her response? “She is an enlightened being, possibly the next Dalai Lama. Incredible. She speaks of finding the middle way, not too high, not too low. What a gift this child is.” More words from the little Wise One: “I’m not trying to be mean. I just want everyone to be friends.” “If we live in a world where everyone’s being mean, everyone will be a monster in the future…” PREVIOUS ENTRY NEXT ENTRY

Sitting at my desk, I turn my calendar to the new month. Then, something compels me to scroll my diary entries back to September 2020. What did I write? Ah, one of my favorite topics – wine. Indeed, wine consumption increased during the pandemic as we all lied low at home. Online wine sales and curbside pick-ups soared. And lockdowns afforded me the time to learn more and to write about the craft of winemaking (its history and the people behind it), both here and abroad. In a nutshell, the celebrated beverage brings people together. FYI, red wine is healthy for you, too (read on). So, in the spirit of viewing the glass half full, timing can’t be more apropos to re-run my September 4, 2020, diary entry. We are being challenged with the aggressive variant, but we can control it and avoid the “L” word (lockdowns) – but only if everyone plays their part to vaccinate and mask up. Let’s honor this season’s bounty and offer a toast to good health – for us all. And when I say, “good health,” I mean it! Consumed in moderation, red wine is beneficial both physically and emotionally because it contains resveratrol, known as the juice’s “wonder ingredient.” Its superpowers fend off fungi and bacteria, and it can help people live longer, it can reduce depression, and there is less chance for fatty liver disease – just a few of a long list of benefits that made me feel less guilty about keeping our modest wine “cellar” stocked. With forward-thinking, we’ll get through this. Stay positive, help one another, and let the wine flow. “BEHIND EVERY MASK IS A PERSON WHO CARES” VACCINATE. WEAR A MASK. USE YOUR BRAIN (the words of a kindergarten teacher to her students). PREVIOUS ENTRY NEXT ENTRY

FLOWERS. FLEURS. FLORES. FIORI. When the going gets tough, the tough get flowers – the antidote for lifting the spirit. Fresh, wilting, or dried, flowers have a magical way of lowering your blood pressure and transforming space – and your mood. No need to break the bank to buy a fancy arrangement. Just grab a handful of the prettiest blooms from your local florist (or your garden), put them in a vase (or wine chiller) and – Voila! Plain, humdrum space is no longer. Like on a recent hot summer day as we planned “the perfect” outdoor lunch underneath the oak tree with my friend Jeannie, her husband Stephane and son John, who were visiting from Paris, The City of Light. The weather was getting hotter by the minute, and a dozen flies were challenging Chef Louie when he brought out his seasoned carne asada and started preparing the grill. Alas, table settings and wine glasses were schlepped back inside the house where we broke bread – amid bare walls and a painting project in progress. The covered chandelier was dubbed an “art installation.” And the center piece of the dining room? Romantic long-stemmed blooms in a crystal vase. PREVIOUS ENTRY NEXT ENTRY

Not all roads lead to Paso Robles wine country in California’s Central Coast. But in 2015, two events would lure me back to the Golden State’s rising star. In May of that year, a visit to then-new Bristols Cider in the town of Atascadero next door to Paso (the shortened moniker for Paso Robles) introduced me to hard cider made by Neil and Jackie, a brother and sister team from Bristol, England, aka cider country -- because they couldn’t find the refreshing fermented apple beverage they so loved back home. Today, Bristols Cider House thrives with a loyal following. In July 2015, while visiting Manchester, England, I wandered into a wine merchant’s shop. In its narrow slice of space, a single wall filled end-to-end with fine wines from around the world entranced my curiosity. Knowing I was from California, the store manager pulled open a drawer revealing a bottle of Tablas Creek Esprit de Beauscatel Blanc. “That’s from Paso Robles,” I smiled, touched by this happenstance moment on the other side of the Atlantic. Fast forward to May 2021 as COVID-19 restrictions began loosening up. My husband and I agreed it was time to celebrate our return to “normal” with a road trip back to rustic Paso, 3.5 hours from Los Angeles. Its wide-open space paints the quintessential California landscape of shady oaks, acres of rolling vineyards, and romantic roads winding in between. With 200-plus mostly family-owned wineries spread throughout, we could barely wait for in-person wine tasting again amid Paso’s famous warm and laid-back spirit. Today, it is California’s largest American Viticultural Area (divided into 11 districts), and the state’s next major wine region. And then some. Enter Robert Haas, an American wine merchant and leader in the wine industry, and the esteemed Perrin family of Chateau de Beauscatel located in the Chateauneuf du Pape wine region in France’s Rhone Valley. In 1987 Haas and the Perrins partnered to grow Rhone grape varietals in Paso Robles after discovering that conditions here are exactly that of the Rhone: calcareous limestone, rare in the U.S., that allows for the same dry farming methods of Europe; and ideal Mediterranean climate. Eleven miles inland from the Pacific Ocean, its hot days dip dramatically to cool nights. With 40- to 60-degree temperature changes in a single day, the diurnal shift here is the largest of any growing region in the country. By 1990, Tablas Creek Vineyard was born, and Haas joined the pioneers of the American Rhone wine movement. Today it is the only winery in the country to have all 14 Chateauneuf du Pape grapes, and over the decades its grafting program has made Rhone varietal cuttings available to vineyards around the country. Counoise, Grenache Blanc, Grenache Noir, Marsanne, Mourvedre, Syrah, Roussanne, and Viognier are just half of the Rhone varieties. Suffice it to say, Tablas Creek was our first winery stop. Here Ray King, tasting room host extraordinaire, offered a fantastic minicourse on the journey of Rhone grapes to America with a tour of the vineyard and a divinely comprehensive tasting session – emphasizing Paso’s spectacular climate for making elegant wines. “The grapes get cooked during the day and then have reprieve overnight to get this nice acidity…the result is naturally well-balanced grapes – even before we manipulate them into wine.” Following this total-immersion minicourse in Rhone-style wines and Paso’s French connection, we called it a day to absorb it all and worked our way back to the lively atmosphere of downtown Paso. Streets lined with shops, art galleries, a movie theater, its popular General Store (that sells more than just provisions) and dining spots just about everywhere, were abuzz with locals and visitors heading out to dinner. And in the center of it all, the inviting greenspace of City Park offered rest and respite, enhanced by soulful tunes compliments of a passionate saxophonist. Our tasting itinerary continued over the next two days at equally remarkable small-production wineries – Niner; Brecon; Lone Madrone; and Epoch in neighboring Templeton -- each sharing their own “Paso stories” while showcasing exquisite estate grown varietals and flagship blends. After finishing our flight of fabulous wines at Lone Madrone Winery (loved the Chenin Blanc) I had one last question for Lorraine, our tasting host, how the name Lone Madrone came about. “The first cabernet sauvignon vineyard that Neil sourced for Lone Madrone had one madrone tree,” she said. “It has a beautiful reddish shiny bark. We have a picture of it inside.” Instantly, my 2015 excursion to Bristols Cider House flooded my memory, especially when owner Neil Collins talked about the lone madrone photograph hanging on the wall. Then Lorraine surprised us with samples of different ciders -- also sold at Lone Madrone. “Cider has become quite the thing here,” she said. “It’s refreshing after a day of wine tasting.” I was smitten by all of this, but there was more to come: Collins is also the winemaker and vineyard manager at Tablas Creek. In the late 1990s he worked a year at Chateau de Beauscatel then returned to California and Tablas Creek, where he has been ever since. Lone Madrone is Collins’ own label. His cider and wines are made at the cider house in Atascadero. And how fitting it was that two years ago Collins received the prestigious 2019 Paso Robles Wine Industry “Person of the Year” award from the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance. Indeed, this journey was about connecting the dots. WHEN YOU GO: https://tablascreek.com/ https://www.lonemadrone.com/ https://epochwines.com/ https://www.ninerwine.com/ https://breconestate.com/ My overnight accommodation: https://www.hotelcheval.com For more information on Paso Robles, visit: https://www.travelpaso.com Published version: https://www.creators.com/read/travel-and-adventure/08/21/a-serendipitous-road-trip-to-paso-robles

It was nice to see Louie making dinner again a couple of nights ago. He’s been working long hours lately and has been too exhausted to do his usual magic in the kitchen. We have missed his dishes over the last couple of weeks. So, the ladies of the house stepped up to the plate. When the going gets tough, the tough get takeout! Our recent dinners have been delicious Cuban fare from Versailles restaurant – juicy roasted chicken, roasted pork, rice, black beans and plantains, and before that, gorgeous fried chicken from Poppy Cake Baking Company - all made with beautiful ingredients, wonderfully seasoned, tasty, and most of all, low salt. But for the next dinner, we decided to go light and make vegetable fried rice. We rummaged the fridge and came up with Brussels sprouts, little French green beans, a red onion, button mushrooms, and eggs. Sweet and simple, right? Not so much. What I thought would be a quick meal to put together, became a production, just the way Louie likes it. My task was to cook a pot of our staple organic whole grain brown rice grown by Koda Farms in California (an heirloom rice rich with protein, calcium and B vitamins). I silently cringed when I saw Louie methodically chop each ingredient, putting them in separate bowls, and setting them aside on the dining table. Then he cooked each separately and, again, set them aside. When the rice was ready, he brought out the heavy red Le Creuset pot, put the rice inside, and one by one, added the veggies followed by the eggs, gently mixed them together. Before that, though, he asked me to take a photo of each cooked ingredient to remember for future reference. (I, on the other hand, cook the veggies together in the wok, add the rice last, and Voila! Done.) But with Louie’s version, the distinct flavors of the veggies took center stage. A few extra steps turned our “simple” vegetable fried rice into an extraordinary meal in a pot. But there’s more. Last night: In the mood for another light dinner, our hunt in the fridge turned up eggplant, fresh corn on the cob, tomatoes, cilantro, parsley, leftover fried chicken, and pita bread. Now, this will be easy. I would make roasted eggplant salad – my mother’s recipe with chopped tomatoes, chopped cilantro, salt and pepper. Served cold or at room temperature, it’s ridiculously easy and a delicious summer salad. The last item we needed was hummus to go with the pita bread, which I would buy from the Mediterranean restaurant down the street. “No…I’ll make the hummus,” Louie immediately said. “Huh?” I asked incredulously. Oy vey. Then he said, “I just need to buy chickpeas…” Suffice it to say that the hummus project ensued with vigor but was interrupted a few times by business calls and emergency emails. (I just paced quietly around the house.) Flavored with garlic, tahini, lemon juice, ground cumin, kosher salt, Italian parsley, and extra virgin olive oil, the hummus eventually came together. The verdict? The lightest and most elegant hummus I have ever enjoyed. The lesson I learn each time Louie cooks? Let him be. PREVIOUS ENTRY NEXT ENTRY

Ah, a story finished and another to go. My travel feature about a spring road trip Louie and I took to Paso Robles will release with Creators Syndicate on August 1. But before immersing into my next travel story deadline – Claremont, California, for TraveLife (Canada) -- I took some time to “smell the roses.” Thank goodness for pets. While our Lola is no longer with us to wake me up each morning with her sweet barely audible whimper, I still greet the morning sun when I check on Lawrence, our tortoise, in her fenced natural habitat. And I noticed right away that the outdoor temperature was cooler and wonderfully pleasant. So, I spotted Miss Lawrence still asleep in Den #2, where she had checked in last night. The last few nights she has had preference for Den #3 at the end of her “alley.” I quietly walked away to pour fresh water into her bowl and put out a nice salad of dandelion greens as she will be waking up soon to roam around until it gets too hot at which time, she retreats to one of her four dens. In the coolness of the morning, I took my time hitting the keyboard and instead admired the colorful desert flowers planted a year ago, which along with dried weeds are nutritious for Lawrence. Then, other things caught my eye: Sunflowers for Lola on the front yard table. In the back patio, the conch shell I found on a beach while on a press trip in Fiji eons ago sitting beside my favorite whisk broom found at a local gift shop. And in the mudroom, storybook-like figurines creating a sweet Mexican vignette that I usually pass with barely a glance as I move quickly in and out the back door. But not this time. Finally, I started making my coffee. But through the side of my eye, I saw the empty Pie Life Pizza box from last night’s dinner. Before doing anything else, my tidy instincts just had to get rid of the pizza box. Outside I went to put it in the trash bin. Just as I was about to open the gate to Lawrence’s yard, I stopped immediately. There at the lavender plant was a hummingbird happily fluttering about feeding on the flowers’ nectar. I quietly rushed back inside to get my smartphone to capture this moment. And I did – sort of. The result is more like a “Where’s Waldo” challenge. The hummingbird might be but a blur, but it was those few minutes of the quiet morning that made it so magical. PREVIOUS ENTRY NEXT ENTRY

HAPPY 5TH OF JULY I have been in “hibernation” of late working on a couple of story deadlines, waking up before sunrise and coming up for air to do laundry, eat with my family and take morning walks with Louie. But a welcome escape was last Saturday, July 3, when we joined a dear friend for a small dinner gathering at her home and met friends of hers for the first time. Within minutes, we learned that the husband of the couple knew my older siblings in high school! The rest of the wonderful evening was like catching up with old friends. And while Independence Day may have been yesterday (Sunday), my town will hold its much-anticipated annual 4th of July parade today, which I remembered as I started brewing my coffee before locking myself in my office. I might make the parade. But I might not. With that in mind (and as my family was still asleep), I grabbed my smartphone, and while my coffee percolated, I quietly walked out the backdoor and headed to at least capture the pre-parade mood at Kersting Court, our new reimagined town square, that was unveiled yesterday in time for the parade. Pictures paint a thousand words, the saying goes. To me, what I captured this morning, including preparations for the annual July 4th 5k run, was as good as being at the parade. HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! PREVIOUS ENTRY NEXT ENTRY

On an uphill jog with my mask hanging from my neck, my baseball cap blocking the sun, and as I focused intently on my breathing, something made me look up. Three feet to my left, a deer was munching blissfully on rose bushes, completely unfazed by my sudden appearance. But it was not the first time we had crossed paths. Thank you, Amiga, for this photo op. PREVIOUS ENTRY NEXT ENTRY

When I woke up yesterday morning, I could not have been happier to see a text from Jeannie, my American BFF living in Paris, France: “Hope that you enjoyed your birthday…We had lunch (in your honor of course) at “La Coupole” yesterday for Father’s Day…” And a few days before my actual birthday that landed on Father’s Day this year, I received in the mail (like clockwork every year) a “curated” birthday card from Jeannie. The cover was a photo of us at the legendary La Coupole, my favorite Parisian brasserie where regulars in its heyday of Roaring Twenties Paris included Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, Marc Chagall, and Josephine Baker. The French called that period after World War I “Annees Folles” (crazy years) when the end of the war inspired a “longing for joy and lightheartedness.” In 2002, Louie and I dined for the first time at La Coupole with Jeannie and her husband, Stephane. We were blown away with its fantastic Art Deco interior and an enormous room filled with a sea of hundreds of diners. Jeannie ordered a “plateau de fruits de mer,” a tower of two platters filled with crustaceans and shellfish on ice: oysters, mussels, shrimp, clams, lobster, crab and snails. We had no trouble devouring the glorious bounty. Then, when I managed to come up for air and glanced at the table across from us, I didn’t realize that an American family dining on burgers had been watching us in complete amazement. And I can’t help thinking: With the pandemic in the rearview mirror, we, too, long for lightheartedness and joy. PREVIOUS ENTRY NEXT ENTRY

Today, June 15, we celebrate a big day in California: COVID-19 restrictions are lifted for vaccinated citizens who can now shed their masks in most situations! There is no way we could be entering this new chapter towards ending the pandemic without those who stepped up to the plate and got their shots to protect one another from spread of the virus. But the unvaccinated must continue wearing masks especially because a highly contagious variant – called Delta -- is now dominant in California. Experts say it is extremely likely to require hospitalization for someone who becomes infected with the variant. But for those who are fully vaxxed, said Dr. Robert Wachter, chair of the Department of Medicine at UC San Francisco, “I wouldn’t be too worried, especially if you are in a highly vaxxed region. If you’re not vaccinated: I’d be afraid. Maybe even very afraid.” Even though my family is fully vaccinated, our supply of grab-and-go masks won’t be stashed away just yet. We will have them handy in the event we are indoors with others who are unvaccinated or unmasked. Better safe than sorry, the saying goes. Mask chains that we purchased from Metria Design were the best COVID investment we made early in the pandemic. Designed to be an attractive accessory, masks easily attach to each end of the chain. They simply hang from our necks until we need to use them. No more losing masks or stuffing them in pockets or purses. (They convert to great eyeglass holders, too!) Reopening is truly cause for celebration. But more than ever, we still need to be diligent if we want to “fully” recover from the pandemic. If we’re not, by this coming fall, we could be back where we were in March 2020. Let’s not go there! https://patch.com/california/sierramadre/s/hmji0/delta-variant-poses-risk-as-california-reopens?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert PREVIOUS ENTRY NEXT ENTRY

Last month our dear Greek-American friend Maria shared with us how much she had been enjoying the 2021 lineup of the 15th annual Los Angeles Greek Film Festival (LAGFF), which ran May 10-30. The festival showcases new Greek cinema: features, shorts, documentaries and animations curated and produced by Greek filmmakers. But this year, due to COVID, it was not held at its regular venue, the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. Instead, it went online becoming the largest online event of its kind outside of Greece. But this watch-from-home edition had its advantages because Maria (a faithful attendee of the festival) was able to watch several movies each week (or each night) from the comfort of her living room couch. Our closest connection to Greece is, well, my name. I was the chosen daughter to be named after the Greek goddess Athena (I am Filipino-American); and several years back I not only discovered but embraced the beautiful Greek culture when I journeyed through the towns and villages surrounding the immense Corinthian Gulf on Greece’s mainland, then wrote a collection of travel stories. So, one lazy May afternoon while chatting with Maria on the phone, we asked what she would be doing that evening. Of course, she mentioned that she was looking forward to watching another Greek film, this time the U.S. premier of award-winning “Man of God” (directed by Yelena Popovic). In the next breath, Maria said, “Hey, would you like to come over and watch it with me?” It’s a religious film, she told us, about Saint Nektarios, one of Greece’s most revered saints. Not having any special plans for the evening, Louie and I accepted Maria’s spontaneous invitation on the spot. She bought chicken and made a salad and we brought over carnitas and hand-made tortillas. We were deeply moved by this film, which depicted the powerful story of how Agios Nektarios, a theologist, philosopher, writer, educator, poet, moralist – and beloved miracle healer (and epitome of humility) – was unjustly exiled and convicted without trial by jealous enemies. In 1961, the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople officially recognized him as a saint. And each year, thousands from around the world visit his tomb at the Church of Agios Nektarios and the monastery of Agia Triada (The Holy Trinity) on the island of Aegina where he died of cancer in 1920 at the age of 74. And while I did not visit Aegina during my travels, my group of fellow journalists and I enjoyed the honor of visiting several monasteries in the depths of central Greece, which I share in the photos I include with this story. After “Man of God” took our breath away, Maria, popped the question, “Do you want to watch another film?” Sure, why not, we replied, as we got ready for sorbet. We settled in again, but this time, the theme for “Tailor” (directed by Sonia Liza Kenterman) was lighter, but no less beautifully portrayed. Who knew that the story of father and son tailors in Athens would make for a captivating and heartwarming Chaplin-esque film? It’s about relationships when the threat of bankruptcy challenges the legacy of the family business -- and how the son, a man of few words, stepped up to the plate re-creating himself as a mobile tailor and bringing his business to the people – and not waiting for customers at his lonely street front shop. Thanks to Maria, COVID restrictions, and the virtual 2021 LAGFF that was able to reach a global audience, we became lucky beneficiaries. Otherwise, we might not have ever learned about the extraordinary Greek film genre. Now we are fans. PREVIOUS ENTRY NEXT ENTRY