I love it when my communities/worlds collide. Mei organized this major dog walk on Mare Island which crossed paths with a major picnic that the Vallejo Gay Network has every year. I brought our two fosters who got a lot of serious attention with their “Adopt Me” vests. It was a little stressful with the four dogs, but we had a wonderful time.
More pictures we took at the picnic:
Pictures others took:
We had a wonderful time with fellow Stephanie Miller fan (we’re both Steph-heads), Vallejoan, and progressive activist friend Diane Hume in her gorgeous home and garden. We compared notes on several subjects and check out this beautiful haul I got from her garden! Fresh lemons and artichokes? My favorites!! Diane is another reason why I know I made the right decision when I moved to this city five years ago!
The first weekday of June is LGBTQ Families Day! Many of you know I’m a proud father with a daughter, Alexandra, who is now grown. I served on the Board of Family Equality for six years when she was younger. We attended many conferences and Family Pride Weeks, mostly in Provincetown, Massachusetts. That is where this first picture was taken for the “Love Makes a Family” photo-text exhibit that traveled the world. I’m so proud of that in particular.
Pictures from Butterfly Festival on Mare Island. Food consisted of some amazing vegan lumpia for me and middle eastern style french fries for Shea. We bought some stained glass pieces which we’ll show and another folk art magnet piece for the fridge.
Shea (and others, including a bit of my profile) made it to the front page of the Vallejo Times-Herald! This was from the City of Vallejo proclamation recognizing June 2025 as LGBTQ+ Pride Month.
Tom Bilbo’s Vallejo Pride Proclamation Acceptance Speech
Mayor Sorce, members of the City Council, City staff, and residents of Vallejo, the proclamation just read reminds us of the importance of the alliances we foster within and beyond the LGBTQ+ community. Your allyship and friendship are essential to our collective wellbeing, especially in challenging times like these. Our community faces significant challenges, with members being targeted by political figures and individuals spreading hate. These moments underscore the fragility of our democracy and the critical need for strong alliances to protect and uplift one another. Simply living an authentic life can make us targets on both national and local levels, but having a hometown like Vallejo where we are valued and seen as an integral part of the community means the world. This year, we are proud to host over 17 events in and around Vallejo that celebrate pride and unity. From the flag raising at City Hall next Monday to Pride Night at the Museum, the Solano County Pride Picnic on Mare Island, and our celebration at the Solano County Fair, we warmly invite everyone to join us and partake in these vibrant moments.
These events are spaces for our community to come together and celebrate, and we treasure the support and presence of allies who stand with us in these spaces we call our own at this time of year. Finally, I am honored to present this new flag, which symbolizes our City’s unwavering commitment to diversity, inclusion, and belonging. Again, thank you.
I left old popcorn out for the birds and squirrels, but apparently that was still more delicious than the dry and wet food that I served for breakfast that morning. Moppy stealing popcorn:
So this is what goes on when I’m away for a meeting. Oh Penny:
Jonah comes back as a foster, while we have Penny, too.
Penny and Jonah are now besties and even play wrestling even a bit with Snoopy, so all good with the new foster makeup and our dogs. Penny and Jonah are available for adoption!
Snoopy chillaxing outside after a long (loud) night of chasing raccoons. He’s really clever at picking out his own burrs and not really keen on me taking them out for him. Unfortunately, there are a lot of them throughout the hillside/incline in the rental backyard, which frustrates me. I was hoping to be back home by this time of year. This will be the last summer with this pain, though, as those kinds of harmful plants don’t flourish in my dense garden.
Doppelganger for Snoopy is Penny, a little girl foster who came to me painfully shy.
Bonnie and Snoopy still in love more than a year later:
Bonnie, Snoopy and visitor Bentley (salt and pepper, who I sat for one night. Bryce is also in one photo with Bonnie.
Lorenzo provided the live piano music at host Barbara Gaea’s house. I had been to her house several years ago for the Vallejo Garden Tour. Where she had a big field of ivy is now a gorgeous ADU. The way the light hits the ADU is really lovely. Our VGN leader, Tom Bilbo, wasn’t able to make it, so I was deputized with not only taking pictures, but also making the usual announcements. Fortunately, there was a bullhorn we could use. I wore the appropriate shirt for the occasion. In case it’s hard to read below, it says:
Posts from others:
Bridget and Denise from Vermont are visiting Greg and Steve. We brought five dogs (as of this afternoon) with us. It was a great evening, especially for three dogs who had never been to the pool before. Penny dove in for quite a shock. She was just trying to get close to me. I immediately picked her up and held her inside the pool. She didn’t make that mistake again. Moppy leaned over to taste the salty water several times, but we made sure she saw the fresh dog water bowl nearby. All the dogs got plenty of exercise and will sleep well tonight.
