Jacob and I went to the Stanford Jazz Workshop on Monday night to hear really innovative music led by Jaimeo Brown. He combined samples of gospel singers with live guitar, electronics, drums, and saxophone. Meanwhile behind the musicians, a video of scenes with elephants and water slowly played. The musicians were all phenomenal, and they created a powerful experience. Campbell Recital Hall is quite small and it felt like a real privilege to hear such great music in an intimate space. ...

To see Micah run the San Francisco Half Marathon, I arose at 5:30 am. Driving up 280, I watched the most beautiful sunrise unfold over the East Bay hills. There was no traffic in San Francisco, so I arrived at the Golden Gate Bridge parking lot by 6:20 am and the clouds were still pink, with some sun coming in from the east. The top-ranked marathoners were already across the bridge. You can see just their heads in the photo, if you look carefully. ...

Jacob and I went on a Monday night adventure to the outer planets and back with the innovative jazz-rock fusion group Pluto Juice. Dayna Stephens led on his EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument), an instrument that you play like a saxophone but which makes sound only via a connected synthesizer. A few times he picked up his tenor saxophone, and proved to have awesome tone, technique and expressivity. Billy Mohler on electric bass held down a solid groove, heavy on octave doubling, compression and other effects. Anthony Fung on drums co-leads the band and played some great intros and solos to the tunes. Joining the group for the first time, Charles Altura offered spacey textures on guitar, but also played very agile, speedy solos. Sometimes the music sounded like instrumentals on David Bowie’s “Low”; sometimes more like classic jazz-rock fusion; other times like a spacey, lush trip. ...

On a warm July Sunday, Ollie and I set out to climb Windy Hill with no particular expectations. Leaving from our house on Town Trail, we gradually started to climb through the trees, which opened up at this familiar old corral. But today’s hike was special because the sky was amazing–full of wispy, swirly clouds. When we reached the first water stop, a bench with a view in the shade, we could see the twin peaks of Windy Hill in the distance but the sky stole the show (above picture). I thought to myself: “Ollie, hope you like this kind of Sunday church service!” ...

One of my favorite spots on the North Fork of Long Island is the historic seaport of Greenport, established 1838. From Mattituck, it’s a 20 minute drive through vineyards, farmstands and the small towns of Cutchogue and Southold. As a boy, I always loved visiting Preston’s Marine Supply, a real boating and sailing supply shop. On this visit to Greenport, I was attracted to the rusty old shipyard. At first I saw the shop buildings and wandered over. Then I found lots of decaying old boats, apparently permanently housed on land. I particularly liked the peeling paint on one sloop. Finally I noticed the wild running, drippy colors on the hulls. ...