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Posts published in “Essays”

Covid for Rookies

The Covid 19 toll seems staggering.  We spray disinfectant, wipe surfaces, practice social distancing, stay indoors so we can watch lots of TV and listen to news anchors tell us again and again of the…

Drug Murder, 1944

Drug related murders come and go with frequency in Mendocino County. However, never was the term so true as in February, 1944.  The scene: Noon hour of a winter's day at the old Philbrick property…

Living at Kah-la-deh-mun

Harriet Campbell Stanley Rhoades lives on the north bluffs overlooking Noyo Bay. Even in this region of beautiful vistas and peaceful spots, few places can compare with Harriet's. Her back door opens onto an infinity…

Our Times: Virtue Signaling

“Hate has no home here” is one of the seven deadly virtues enumerated on lawn signs I pass if my evening walk takes me towards Alameda’s Gold Coast. (Our cozy cottage is in the center…

Our Very Moving Experience

You learn things by moving, and the first thing you learn is to never do it again. The second thing is that you don’t have as much money as you thought you did. TIP: Sell…

Now You See Her, Now You Don’t

It's just about impossible to find a nice healthy attractive woman these days, although there seem to be many angry addicted ones available. When you get to be an older man that is the normal…

Boozy San Francisco

You’re in San Francisco on holiday and you want an alcoholic beverage: a cold beer, a glass of red wine or a cocktail. Where do you go in a city in which there are bars…

The Rap On Brandon

As the flag-waving scenes of this election week recede in the rearview mirror of the campaign bus, the numbers of the discontent increase in the ether like those brooms in the Sorcerer’s Apprentice:  the inundations…

Arsonists: 113 Shots, Zero Goals

It is one thing for an indifferent Mother Nature to imperil Ukiah by tossing off random lightning bolts mixed with harsh droughts. It is quite another thing for calculating arsonists to set 113 fires in…

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