Weekly Obsessions

We'd heard about the wonders of kayaking Elkhorn Slough, but when we stopped the wind was up, and visions of being trapped, upside down in ice-cold water, filled our claustrophobic brain. Luckily, the Kayak Connection at Moss Landing employs the soothing and expert Larry Wagner, who explained everything about how to safely kayak the slough, where our 7-year-old companion swears he saw 32 sea otters. And when our car wouldn't start afterward, it was the soothing Larry who came out to the parking lot, gave us a jump, and sent us, expertly, on our way. J.M.

Of course we'd tune in to a PBS series called The Meaning of Food. And of course we'd enjoy it, because it's a buffet of short takes on food and life/family/culture. But to our surprise we've spent quite a bit of time on the excellent Web site, www.pbs.org/opb/meaningoffood/, because it has lots of interesting stories that didn't make it onto the show -- complete with recipes. M.B.