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Posts published in “Essays”

Cathedrals & Redwoods

Florence, Italy, a city of about 370,000 residents, hosts more than two million visitors a year, and that figure must be a conservative one. Even in October, when it is supposed to rain at least…

American Music’s Long Strange Trip

For almost a quarter century, Dennis McNally held a job that could be considered an ultimate dream or nightmare, depending on one’s perspective — he was the official publicist for the Grateful Dead. And while…

Sequoia National Park

Last month I spent several days in Sequoia National Park. When most folks hear that name they think: big trees. Yes, the world's largest tree, in terms of volume, the General Sherman Tree, does stand…

Geese

Every day this week, walking to town, working in the garden, sitting on a bench overlooking Big River Bay, the honking of zealous geese caused me to look up and search the sky until I found the lines of honkers, visible to my naked eyes only because there were dozens of the mighty birds in large formations winging southward.

Mendocino Talking: Jan Hoyman

Jan Hoyman owns the Jan Hoyman Pottery Studio at 323 North Main Street in Ukiah. She was born in Oshkosh Wisconsin, then moved to Goshen Indiana, the heart of Mennonite Amish country. First daughter, second child of five. Attended Indiana University, took some art classes in college, became “enamored with clay” but decided she had to go to California in 1976 because “the Beach Boys were singing about it all the time.”

Panther Soccer (Nov 12, 2014)

The postseason soccer play-offs began last week in Boonville with the hosts facing Fremont Christian at Tom Smith Field. Somewhat predictably these days, grades and discipline issues for a couple of the players lead to…

Old Squawky

Without a tractor, I’d been unable to work the crop residue and weeds into the ground from our sweetcorn, watermelons, etc., and the lambsquarters and pigweeds were rearing their ugly heads and waving them at me defiantly in the autumn breeze

Prescription Drugs

Outside the robins are gobbling hawthorn berries, one after the other. The tree will be bare in another day. Hawthorn berries contain the same antioxidant, oligomeric procyandins (OPCs), as grapes, as well as the flavanoid…

Finding The Lost

In Newton, Iowa, from the 1940's through 1970's, there was a diminutive man who hung out at the barber shop around the corner from the Maid-Rite hamburger joint. His name was “Buttons,” which was obvious…

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