Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published by “Malcolm Macdonald”

Christmas 1918

Christmas fell on a Wednesday in 1918. Letters were still arriving in Mendocino from men who had fought the War to End All Wars. Though the armistice had been signed a month and a half…

Polliwog Eggs and a Duck

“Just before light… darkness, impenetrable.” So Aunt Mae would say, always placing the adjective at the tail end. I stayed with Aunt Mae and Uncle Carl when my sister was sick in the head. I'd…

Cape Horn On the Albion

As I write, rain is predicted to arrive in a day or two, with re-occurring precipitation of measurable amounts forecast throughout the coming week. Here, along the Albion, we can certainly use a downpour or…

Tainted Grants & Testy Gripes

The November Zoom meeting of the Mendocino Coast Recreation & Park District (MCRPD) Board of Directors lasted nineteen minutes. The most newsworthy item from the proceeding was the announcement that California State Parks had acknowledged…

Albion River Water

Until the recent mild rains of November the Albion River had been dry for months. Of course, in the few miles of tidewater one could see the usual waterway. However, starting slightly east of Duck…

Helter Skelter Winter Shelter

At the November 17 meeting of Mendocino County's Board of Supervisors an ordinance passed effectively approving a temporary group care facility without a Use Permit, within the unincorporated area of the Mendocino Coast. Within hours…

Two Quacks West of Slaughterhouse

Ed Sniece resides upriver, near a branch in a fork of the stream; one you wouldn’t ordinarily notice unless you already knew it was there. It’s a far piece afoot. Consequently, I don’t see or…

Two District Connections

At an October 29 meeting, the Fort Bragg City Council chose to elevate Jim Hurst to the position of  chair at the Noyo Harbor District Board of Commissioners. Doug Albin was selected to fill a…

-