1. Journeys
Dearest Friends and Family, I have retired my blog, “Under Construction,” because our remodeling project came to its end. My plan was to stop writing when the renovations were done, but several readers asked me to soldier on. A few said they enjoyed finding the occasional diversion in their inbox; others wanted to keep track of Marcia and me (which is a bit creepy, now that I think about it). To appease these readers I will start a new blog called “Golden State” — a homage to California and my stage in life. Think of it as a holiday letter broken up into disjointed installments that arrive haphazardly. I will write about what Marcia and I are doing and what is happening to the two of us. But no politics, because that is happening to everyone. Let’s get going, as my wife has me in a rush: “There are tons of them!” exclaims Marcia, her face fastened to a Facebook feed she has just joined. “Tons of them — just south of the pier, by the Taco Bell. Hurry!” We are driving to...