Neptune Landing

During my most recent trip to Boston I was impressed by a sense of unity and purpose that pervades the city from a micro to a macro level. Sure, it's always been there, as part of a missionary zeal from the city's Puritan DNA, but it's become even more salient as the first anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings fast approaches. More recently, the city was again brought together when a Back Bay fire killed two Boston firefighters - one a family man and another a "Big Brother" who volunteered regularly at Shriners Hospital for Children, a center for pediatric burn care. In fact, when my mother picked me up from Logan last week, we got to witness hordes of firemen from all over the world walking around South Boston, getting ready to attend one of the funerals. It was well worth the wait in traffic to witness this culture of honor. Additionally, as a reporter in the city, I got to know some of the movers and shakers in the social justice realm, warriors i...

      Mendocino County lies three hours north of San Francisco on a rocky, moody coastline reminiscent of The Vacation State. In fact, the village of Mendocino (population 894) was settled by "Mainiacs" and other New Englanders who imported their logging skills to this small village and other Northern California towns. Looking at the architecture, it's hard to shake the image of Maine from your perception. The town is dotted with cute, clapboard homes in the mini-Victorian style.       Murder, She Wrote , that quintessential television series which starred Angela Lansbury and ran for 12 seasons, was filmed in the village of Mendocino but "took place" in the fictional Maine town of Cabot Cove. I tried to explain the premise of the series to Mauricio, who grew up in Chile. "Think of an even more eloquent Isobel from Downton Abbey tying together all the conspirators at the tail-end of a murder mystery each week and you have Murder, She Wrote, "I expl...