Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in “Essays”

Fisticuffs & More

I have said it before and I will no doubt say it again: my fellow human beings either run to me or from me. No one is neutral. Case in point, I got into a…

The War Inside the War in Vietnam

On the cover of Marc Levy’s The Best of Medic in the Green Time is a photo of a Colonel in clean, starched fatigues with a bit of a paunch. He’s been choppered in for…

Pot Farm Petite

I thought it was a dream. A war dream specifically, filled with fiery convoys of armored vehicles, militant men screaming “Don’t move!” and “Arms up where we can see ‘em!”, the scatter and roar of…

Why Democrats Keep Losing

Why, Democrats have been asking, do so many poor white people vote for a Republican Party that doesn’t care about or do anything for them? The most common reply is: Democrats are snobby coastal elites…

How the Shipwreck of an Opium Clipper Changed California

The Point Cabrillo Lighthouse has guarded lumber schooners and trading ships on the Mendocino coast for the past century. The restored head lightkeeper's home opened as a bed-and-breakfast inn last fall. At 9:30 p.m. on…

Songs of the Biden Heart

Much has been made of the playlists of the erstwhile presidential contenders. Back in 2016 Trump’s obsession with winning was given voice by Queen’s “We are the Champions,” who have, as the lyrics put it,…

I’m Seeing 20/20 in 2020

Just like you and everyone we know, I’ve been spending the past few decades not paying much attention to my ever-worsening eyesight. This is because it takes a few decades for it to get really…

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…

Is It True that I’m No Longer Young?

Every year my mom’s brother-in-law Earl packed up what he needed for a few days out in the Oregon woods and hunted elk. The meat fed his family of six throughout the year and he…

-