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Posts published in “Essays”

Outstanding Trainee

Cassidy went on sick call that morning, talked like he had laryngitis, so Prado had to take the platoon. Prado had been waiting for a day like this. He knew exactly what he needed to…

Barbara Howe Speaks

There comes a point in nearly every hot, irrational blow-up when those involved must surely, in a moment of clarity, set aside their rage and wonder how in the world things got so bad.  In…

The Cow in the Driveway

Rancho Navarro is a subdivision of 135 ten-acre lots nestled in the woods northwest of the Navarro General Store. Most properties lack permanent dwellings, giving the steep terrain a parklike atmosphere. Hidden behind hills and…

Back to the Stacks

Back in the dark ages of my youth, and I don’t mean to say that it was a dark time— quite the contrary, it was rather brightly illuminated; I was making a hyperbolic statement to…

Searching for Limb Casts

“What’s a Limb Cast?” Any geologist or rockhound can tell you. If you bury any or all of a tree in hot volcanic ash the wood will burn away but leave a cast, or impression,…

1969 & All That Weird Stuff

When my friends ask librarians to recommend a novel by a local author that’s set in Sonoma County they suggest Greg Sarris’s Watermelon Nights and Jack London’s The Valley of the Moon. They rarely if ever point readers in…

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