Pastor, Get Your Gun

Pastor, Get Your Gun

The very first time anyone ever called me “Pastor” was during the early 1980s at First Baptist Church of Hopland, Calif. For 52 Fridays in 1981, I left my seminary classroom in the Bay Area and drove 100 miles with my wife, Becky, to my weekend pastorate. Parishioners often hosted us in their homes, but eventually they converted a Sunday-school classroom into a kind of bed-minus-breakfast room for their newlywed pastor. The church ladies strove for a homey feel, covering our poster bed with doily pillowcases and a homemade quilt. They welcomed me as their faithful, fun and fearless pastor. 

Coming to America

Coming to America

The American experience is by and large the immigrant experience. Millions of people from all over the world have come to our great nation in order to find opportunity and freedom and to pursue happiness. Those last two things are unique to America. Our founders enshrined the phrase “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” in the Declaration of Independence.

Where’s the Cream?

Where’s the Cream?

Andrea Seppinni loves dessert. About two years ago, she founded Conscious Creamery with her husband, Kevin. Their company makes artisanal gelato without dairy, eggs, mixes, artificial fillers, emulsifiers or stabilizers. Rotating crops of flavors are crafted from cashew cream, sugar and fresh, usually local fruit.

Lab Findings

Lab Findings

Dr. Kellie Whited is the kind of cool teacher you always wanted as a kid. She’s trained exotic animals and appeared on “The Tonight Show.” She’s worked on a language project with chimpanzees. She loves “Star Wars,” and she created a summer-school class called The Science of “Star Wars.”

Crazy for Color

Crazy for Color

There are few entries in my baby book. My mother was a hardworking farm wife with two children, much too busy to be documenting my every tooth and step. One of the few things she wrote was “Anita loves flowers—22 months.” Decades later, I still do. I first encountered the term “flower floozy” at Annie’s Annuals & Perennials, a wonderful nursery in Richmond, and recognized kindred spirits among the staff and customers.