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Posts published in “Essays”

Travelers Then & Now

When I see the travelers on the street today I think about how different it was when us hippies poured into Garberville in the early 70s alarming and annoying the rednecks with our casual airs…

The Proto Object Of Desire

In the annals of Americana there is a particularly virulent and widespread trope infecting the memoirs of boyhood, the one about the Object of Desire, its discovery, what it symbolizes, the sacrifices one makes to…

A Modest Proposal For Rebuilding Santa Rosa

As Sonoma County gets ready to rebuild its burned-out neighborhoods I would like to make a modest proposal: that no regulations whatsoever be imposed on builders, contractors, plumbers, electricians, carpenters and the like. My proposal…

Teenage Wasteland

When I was a teenager, older men followed me on the street, offering me drinks in the middle of the day, occasionally muttering obscenities in my ear. Something about me, some kind of vibe I…

Our Boy Bob

Lots of Manson publicity since he died, and it's notable how many people had some sort of connection to Charlie. Musician friend of mine showed me a pair of moccasins Manson gave him, when his…

Dutch Fred & William Kelly

Most people know that Bald Hill is north and slightly east of Fort Bragg, but few have ever seen the monument astride the top. It rests alongside a giant eucalyptus that's been shattered by storms…

On The Road To Rochester

The glaciers were bigger then. I gained renewed appreciation for their scale two weeks ago when making the long climb by bicycle out of one of the holes they dug as they withdrew northward during…

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