Katherine Hale
Kate’s Autobiography (2021)
I left Staples for my senior year at the Northampton School for Girls in Northampton, Mass.. From there to Mills College ( my 14th school). I loved California and was intrigued by the flowers and trees, and the exciting Bay Area. I married Mike Lopes in 1964, and lived in Berkeley for several years. From there to Stony Brook, NY then Chico, Calif. ,Andover, Mass and summers in Vermont. On both coasts I taught in the Poets in the Schools Program, the Gifted and Talented Programs, and was a specialist in art, language art, and history in private and public schools.Gardening was always a main love, no matter where I lived. As “that crazy California lady”, I shook up the Mensa faculty members at Phillips Academy where we each had vegetable plots in the huge communal garden. My fellow gardeners could not understand why I (with three children in tow ) had the first and most delicious strawberries. I had gotten the reject plot where the others had dumped their stones for years. (I always wondered if it also annoyed them that I was the only woman). What they didn’t realize until the first spring after I arrived, was that the heating pipes for the academy went under my garden!
My three sons, are David Lopes who consults and has run Gingko Press, Nat Lopes whose company, Hilride, designs bike parks and does trail master planning design, and Sam Lopes who is a fine artist. They are fantastic, naturally.
After my divorce, I moved back to California and lived in Sonoma and then Santa Rosa where I taught in a public school. After retirement, I volunteered at the Santa Rosa Museum and Quarryhill, a fabulous botanical garden of Asian Plants, and took the training for the Master Garden program. This was finally a chance to find much more interesting people. However, the good times ended with the Tubbs Fire of 2017. I escaped in a nightgown. All was lost including great art and all of Sam’s work that had been stored at my house. The loss was traumatic. My children and many friends were incredibly helpful and generous. I fled first to Marin County and have now returned to lovely Sonoma County. The fires continue to burn and the medical problems and psychological stress are exhausting. Evacuating is terrifying. Due largely to the fires, my photos are gone.
Dimitri Lopes, my only grandchild is a delightful, creative eight year old who lives in Berkeley and San Rafael. After the first fire (2017) I was able to see him often. I hope hope hope that he will be be able to visit me on the East Coast when and if I move back. After Monday’s night of wind and arching electrical wires next to my house, I am getting closer to moving.
I look forward to hearing and seeing former classmates in February.