There was a time, and some of us remember it, when nightly howls echoed about the neighborhoods of Ukiah, howls intended as loud shouts of support for front line workers in the pandemic of 2020.…
Posts published in “Essays”
As a fugitive from justice with regards to a 600 pound bust in Baltimore, I managed to purchase 160 acres of prime Woodman Creek property in the name of “Ryan Lee.” It was a sweet…
The iconic Woodrose Cafe in Garberville, California started in 1977 and was our unofficial community center for forty years, a local institution which is still going strong. At her thirtieth birthday party the owner and…
For some thirty years now your Musical Patriot has marched in step with a woman named Annette to countless nights in the cinema, opera, and theater. Last Friday was not one of them. Her given…
The first clear memories of my childhood began in the town of Los Gatos, located in south end of Silicon Valley and nestled against the base of the Santa Cruz mountains. Our family had just…
For 46 years I’ve been married to a “ferroequinologist.” Know what that is? A person who loves any and all aspects of railroading. They are also known as “foamers” as they foam at the mouth…
Oracle Park is where the Giants play in San Francisco. (It used to be PacBell Park. Can’t tell the corporate sponsors without a scorecard.) Unite Here is a union representing some 270,000 US and Canadian…
She is high off the ground, far higher than is comfortable for most people, as she begins to let go. Her hands are chalked to soak up any perspiration and trace of wetness. Those hands…
In 1934 the French government banned six varieties of wine that had been created years earlier by crossing native varieties —merlot, Cabernet sauvignon, etc— with some hardy American varieties that had been imported in the…