The Portland Hills have stairways cross-connecting some streets, like Berkeley, California and San Francisco. This brick structure houses water valves. Hillside homes perched high above the Willamette River. Steel house supports are common on the steep hillside. A starter castle? Ample rain yields lush hillside trees, shrubs and flowers. Iris A word play on ‘The…

Visiting our friends’ ranch south of Salinas, California. Chimney of lime kiln built in 1893. Small lime kilns were common then. Buckeye tree  (horse chestnut). 83 miles of hiking, biking and riding trails near the California coast. Sunny and Ivy are ready for the trail. Oak forest. Had to duck low under some branches or…

In Northern California, north of San Francisco, and west of the city of Novato in Marin County is an area called ‘West Marin’. It is an area of great natural beauty. Superlatives are overused these days. Yet the rolling grassy hillsides of West Marin call for them, as they are breathtakingly beautiful in the spring, one…

The hills of Berkeley (near the University of California–Berkeley) are steep and wooded. The winding streets have rustic paths and stairways connecting them, and you can have a lovely hike up the hill on them. On April 24th, while staying with friends there, I took a walk that I will share here. Looking out toward…