“We didn’t work within the confines of walls or sit hunched behind desks; we just packed up our tiny shelters, placed them upon our backs, and hiked into the mountains to complete our simple and honest tasks. We would’ve been the envy of kings, if only they knew.”

Bailey Diemer, a college student and aspiring photographer, spent last summer as a forest ranger intern in the John Muir Wilderness. His photo essay, shot on 35mm film, makes a persuasive case for the simple life. Field Magazine

On Sept. 11, 2021, Anthony Reyes’ father died from the coronavirus. The 17-year-old was inconsolable. Worse, he blamed himself for getting sick at school and bringing it to the family’s home in Riverside County. A few days after Christmas, Reyes’ mother jolted awake at 4 a.m. She went to the teenager’s bedroom and found that he had taken his own life. The reporter Brittny Mejia said this was one of the saddest stories she’d ever written. L.A. Times

After Joan Didion’s death in December, the text of a 1975 commencement address she delivered at UC Riverside was pulled from a library archive and published for the first known time online. It’s both gorgeously written and eerily relevant nearly a half century later. Here she is on the imperative of seeing the world as it is:

“Some of you live in the world already and some of you never will. It takes an act of will to live in the world… You have to keep stripping yourself down, examining everything you see, getting rid of whatever is blinding you. And sometimes when you get rid of what’s blinding you, you get your eyes opened, you don’t like what you see at all. And that’s the risk.” News.ucr.edu

Big-haired wives gathered for a Tupperware party. A dad clutching his evening cocktail. A kid on a Big Wheel, toy rifle at the ready.

In 1972, Bill Owens was a news photographer for The Livermore Independent in the Bay Area. In his off hours, he embarked on a sort of anthropological project: a visual record of the middle-class dream in the 1970s Bay Area. The result, “Suburbia,” still fascinates 50 years later. Huck magazine

See collections of Owens’ work at BillOwens.com and the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art.

“When I’m in the U.S., I’m American. When I’m in China, I’m Chinese.”

Eileen Gu, 18, was born and raised in the Bay Area and trained on the slopes of Tahoe, but the skiing phenom chose to compete for China in the 2022 Olympics. Her decision has attracted scrutiny at time when relations between China and the West could hardly be more tense. It’s also raised questions about her citizenship. China does not allow dual nationality. The Wall Street Journal asked Gu’s sponsor Red Bull, her agent, and Chinese officials whether she renounced her American citizenship. All declined to answer. Time | South China Morning Post

Flashback: Some of the world’s most talented surfers descend upon Mavericks each winter, when storms in the Gulf of Alaska send monster swells toward the shore near Half Moon Bay. Jaw-dropping rides are the norm. Still, many could hardly believe their eyes during an epic set last January when Chuck Patterson slid down one of the watery slopes wearing skis — poles in each hand. Patterson, an adventure sport junkie, later explained what he was thinking: “It’s all about doing out of the ordinary things that put a smile on your face.” Surfer Today

See Patterson’s ride. 👉 @chuckpatterson

Julia Morgan was born on this week in 1872. The first woman to receive an architect’s license in California, Morgan is best known for designing Hearst Castle, but she left her mark throughout the state — from Grass Valley to Los Angeles. The architect Julia Donoho said Morgan was a true engineer, pioneering the aesthetic use of reinforced concrete. “Frank Lloyd Wright’s concrete sags because he didn’t really understand engineering,” Donoho said. “But not hers. Hers is very strong and true. To this day a lot of her buildings are still standing.” The fantastic podcast “99% Invisible” shared Morgan’s story.