“If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.” — Edward Hopper
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On an exceptionally clear, warm Sunday morning, I drove across the bay to San Francisco, which despite what you may have heard, is not a cesspool of homelessness, open drug use and petty street crime.
It remains what it has always been — one of the safest, cleanest big cities in the country, albeit with a certain measure of homelessness, open drug use and petty street crime. And also the place where a relative handful of us chose to raise our kids.
San Francisco is changing, some say, but let us hope it will always remain a center for creative, random thinkers.
Writers, artists, musicians and dreamers of all kinds have chosen to call it home forever and I hope they will continue to be able to do so. And that whatever piece of ourselves nobody else values but is the part that keeps our spirit alive knows it has a safe place to flourish there.
Kids raised in SF are pretty much like kids anywhere else, except that they don’t often vote for politicians who ban books or believe in re-programming those with alternative gender orientations.
Like most parents, I’ve often worried about what career options my children might have, and whether those careers will prove to be realistic, let alone lucrative. I have had my ideas for each of them, but I’m not sure that my main strength as a parent is pragmatism. Then again, parenting can bring out the parts of us previously under-utilized, right?
Also, I’m not really sure what art is but I always know it when I see it.
These were the ideas flipping through my mind as I drove across the Bay Bridge into the city of 49 square miles with 49 hills and at least 49 good options of where to have brunch. My three youngest kids and I planned to hang out at one of those spots for Father’s Day.
We had an exceptionally great brunch and talked about many things including what careers they might choose. Afterwards, the four of us went up to Holly Park, where we’d sometimes go in the past when they were walking dogs, and then we hiked back to the house to continue our conversations and be together a bit longer.
There, my youngest gave me the piece of art she made me for Father’s Day (pictured above.)
(NOTE to readers: I aggregate news headlines and write personal essays 365(6)days a year. Please forward this column to a friend, or better yet ten friends who might like it, because new subscriptions are pretty much like gold to me.)
TODAY’s LINKS: (6/20/22 — 30 stories from 20 sources)
NATO warns of long Ukraine war as battles grind on (Reuters)
Morale is concern as NATO chief warns war could last ‘years’ (AP)
Will Ukraine join the European Union? (Al Jazeera)
Fierce fighting continues over Severodonetsk (NHK)
Russia aiming to bring front-line to Kharkiv (BBC)
Former federal judge warns of danger to American democracy (NPR)
DeSantis draws huge cash haul from Trump donors (Politico)
Jan. 6 panel to implicate Trump in fake elector plot, Schiff says (Reuters)
Trump 'Handed Down Death Sentence To Mike Pence' To Stay In Power: Mary Trump (HuffPost)
Despite Growing Evidence, a Prosecution of Trump Would Face Challenges (NYT)
Monsoon floods kill 42 people, millions stranded in Bangladesh, India (Reuters)
Did climate change kill 2,000 Kansas cows? Farmers can’t afford to ignore science (Kansas City Star)
Republican Drive to Tilt Courts Against Climate Action Reaches a Crucial Moment (NYT)
VIDEO: Militant Attack on Sikh Temple Leaves Several Dead in Afghanistan (Reuters)
China launches third aircraft carrier in military advance (Guardian)
Crypto billionaire says Fed is driving current downturn (NPR)
Bitcoin drops below $20,000 as crypto selloff quickens (AP)
Supreme Court could soon make it easier to carry guns in six states (WP)
The number of firearms in the U.S. is outpacing the country’s population, as an emboldened gun industry and its allies target buyers with rhetoric of fear, machismo and defiance. (NYT)
Three single, gay dads reflect on fatherhood, surrogacy journeys (NPR)
The Recipe for Life — A father, a son, and their secret superpowers. (New Yorker)
Apple workers in Maryland vote to become tech giant’s first unionized store in U.S. (WP)
Vaccines for Young Children Are Coming, but Many Parents Have Tough Questions (NYT)
Belgium to return Patrice Lumumba’s gold tooth in bid to atone for colonial crimes (Guardian)
Why We’re Still Obsessed With Watergate (Politico)
SpaceX launches and lands 3rd rocket in 36 hours (Space.com)
Steph Curry’s Warriors Are Golden Champions Again. Look Out, NBA. (WSJ)
Tech Is The Future, Reports Local Dad (The Onion)
TODAY’s LYRICS:
“That’s the Way Loves Goes”
Song by Merle Haggard
Written by Lefty Frizzell and Sanger D. Shafer
I've been throwing horseshoes
Over my left shoulder
I've spent most all my life
Searching for that four-leaf clover
Yet you ran with me
Chasing my rainbows
Honey, I love you too
That's the way love goes
That's the way love goes, babe
That's the music God made
For all the world to sing
It's never old, it grows
Losing makes me sorry
You say, "Honey, now don't worry
Don't you know I love you too?"
And that's the way love goes
That's the way love goes, babe
That's the music God made
For all the world to sing
It's never old, it grows
Losing makes me sorry
And you say, "Honey, don't worry
Don't you know I love you too?"
And that's the way love goes
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