In last month’s column I wrote about the awkwardness that can ensue when getting a massage. Male or female masseuse? Clothed or unclothed?

With cries bellowing from the nursery, I rushed in to save the day. I was sure my grandson needed me. After all, I’m his Grammie, the baby whisperer. Sitting in bed, with snot running down his face, he continued wailing even after I picked him up. I finally realized it wasn’t me he wanted, but his favorite stuffed animal, Lovey, that had fallen out of his crib.

Cuddling him close, I gave Lovey back, but just as I did, he dropped it to the floor again and wrapped his little arms around my neck, putting his tear-stained cheek next to mine. Holding him close, I was reminded of all the sweet times I had done this with my children, but rarely had I stopped to treasure the moment. Life was busy with four kids, and I was on overload.

I had occasion to spend some time in one of the local county parks on Easter Sunday.

The park was mobbed – nearly every picnic table occupied, nearly every barbecue smoking. Many of the tables were decked in Easter-themed cloths and sported Easter baskets filled with colorful eggs, some real, some obviously plastic and prize-filled. We had arrived too late to see the family Easter egg hunts, but the treasure troves were on display on all sides.

I got a massage the other day.

I had to immediately order another one just to deal with the mental stress of ordering the first one.

When our family originally moved from Mountain View to Los Altos, we thought our newly purchased home cost more than what anyone ought to pay for a three-bedroom fixer-upper, but the joke at the time was that in Los Altos, you pay for the land and the house itself is free. That said, the property had potential, so my husband and I took the plunge and bought it.

The second day after we had moved in, a neighbor approached me while I was standing outside. He was an original homeowner, someone who had built his house on this tract of land where nothing but orchards had existed before.

Last month I wrote about attending a discussion on how to remedy the shortage of affordable housing in Los Altos before the state steps in with mandates. One of the proposals was “form-based zoning” to make multiplex housing blend in with existing neighborhoods.

I said “that train has already left the station” because so many of the new multimillion-dollar homes being built in Los Altos have abandoned the once-ubiquitous California ranch-style home in favor of Craftsman, French Chateau, Mission and Modern two-story models. What is one to blend with?