Abuela’s Tequila Showdown with Dad
Victoria, my maternal Abuela (grandma), was a force of nature, the mother supreme of the Castanon family. She fled Mexico and the Mexican Revolution at
Roads Traveled
Recent Posts
Donut Time at the Tampico
Dad loved going to the Tampico on weekends to play pool, drink beer and hang with his friends. The Tampico was the only real Mexican
G’s Last Ride
My baby sister Syl was flying cross the Pacific every week as her Oakland based airline had a contract with the DoD to carry fresh
Eclipsed
The media was full of news of the full solar eclipse that motivated millions of people to travel to a good location to bask in
An Affair with Dzil and the Stars
It was a hard time of my rising corporate life with my right leg encased in a cast for most of the year and my
My Highs and Lows With Raven
My best friend and I met Raven in one of our first classes at Berkeley. It was a course on the indigenous tribes of Sudan
Dropping off the Barber Chair and Stuff in Cucapah, Baja California
Dad’s second oldest brother, my Tio Ysidro, lived with his family in Cucapah, a small ejido (communal farm) with about one hundred people that was about two
Killing the Kid for the Fourth
Papa’s birthday was legitimately on the fourth, the fourth of July, and we celebrated it with blood and beer all through my adolescent years. It
Rock Fights and the 4th Street Branch Library
The 4th Street Branch of the Richmond Public Library was my refuge away from the ordinary and where I wandered the shelves, going from one new
The Orient Express Sofia Stop of Summer 67
It was supposed to be a four-day train trip to Istanbul on the Orient Express, but Ib, my new travel friend from Amsterdam, and I
Escaping Istanbul on the Orient Express Part 1
Unexpected Layover in Iceland Courtesy of Icelandic Airlines This is what I think probably happened during my summer escape to and from Istanbul in the
A Chicano Roots Trip: Part Two
I finished high school in the summer of 65. It was a proud time as I was the first of the extended family to earn
A Chicano Roots Trip : Part One
Why a Chicano Roots Trip? I can still feel the bitter sweet taste of freedom and fear I experienced sixty years ago when I was