Jacob

Hitting the trail Our quest for the perfect lake in California’s Sierra Nevada continued this year with backpacking in the Desolation Wilderness. This year Micah Jacob and I were joined by a special guest: nephew Jack. We planned a four day trip: From the Wright Lake trailhead to Maude Lake Then over the Rockbound Pass at nearly 9000 feet, to Lake Schmidell A day hike, return to camp at Lake Schmidell Return 9 miles to Wright Lake Day One: To Maude Lake We left chilly, foggy San Francisco at about 9:30 am and arrived at Wright Lake for a lunch of fresh Indian dips, procured from the Noe Valley Farmer’s Market....

In May 2024, our family converged in the mile-high city of Denver for a beautiful spring weekend. Mom, Paul, and Karen flew in from New Jersey; Audrey from California; and Jacob lives and teaches in Denver. I was already there for a business trip. First stop was Colorado College, Jacob’s alma mater, pictured above. Did you know Katharine Lee Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College, composed America the Beautiful here in 1882?...

I came to New Mexico for a Digital Promise retreat, and stayed for an adventure with my son, Jacob. The retreat was held at the beautiful Tamaya Resort on land of the Santa Ana Pueblo. We came in November, and the Cottonwood trees were glowing in golden yellow along the peaceful paths throughout the resort. It is truly Tierra Grande. Fortunately, the retreat agenda allowed for time to stroll the grounds....

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....

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....