At dinner with Jacob, I enjoyed the local photos on display at the wonderful Love Lane Kitchen, on the wall just behind where we are seated. I mentioned this to our server and she said “Well, tell the photographer, she’s seated right behind you!” So I did. I told her I particularly admired her sunflower photos. But I also liked the barn she shot with an American flag painted on its side. ...

Tradition continued in ‘22 with a great family clam dig in Peconic Bay. Would there be few clams this year? Only big chowder clams? Or a bonanza? Around 11 am the first rakes hit the water. We were in luck! Just 20 feet from the water’s edge we quickly found beds of nice sized clams. Everyone took turns with the clam rakes, dragging through the water until you hit a bump, digging, and scooping up the clams. Sometimes we pulled up two or three at a time. The ever-talented Audrey followed in Jacob’s footsteps by digging up clams with her toes. ...

A beautiful Sunday took us to the beach just north of Half Moon Bay, to hear Tierney Sutton sing at the Bach Dynamite and Dancing Society. Her theme was “love.” To open the show, Tierney sang a song from her “Blue” album, which featured Joni Mitchell songs. She playfully combined the standard “April in Paris” with Joni’s “Free Man in Paris.” Later in the show, Tierney gave a tour-de-force performance of the Dry Cleaner from Des Moines, a Joni Mitchell song with a ton of very fast, very complex lyrics. ...

Singing their original “I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it,” the gruffy gang from north, north Portola Valley won over the overheated Palooza crowd. Billie Steve “Spock” Dusse took center stage and played to the camera, so earns the most mug shots in the gallery. At this point, I guess I am Whiskey Hillbillies groupie, ‘cause they are always good fun. So follow them on Facebook and check out a show. ...

Live from Berkeley, it’s Trombone Micah! An evening drive up to Berkeley took me to the California Jazz Conservancy, where Micah has been taking an evening class and playing jazz. The group played a set with three tunes: Four (Miles Davis) Anthropology (Charlie Parker) Nutville (Horace Silver) The music was joyful, challenging, and uptempo. Interestingly, the group’s teacher, Dave LeFebre, was also my jazz teacher when I was a grad student at Berkeley, decades ago. Indeed, he and Susan Muscarella led the Jazz program at UC Berkeley when I was there, but then built the separate Conservatory nearby. I said “hi” and “thanks” to Dave. ...