“As you walk, you cut open and create that riverbed into which the stream of your descendants shall enter and flow.” — Nikos Kazantzakis In 1965, when I was 16 and deeply unhappy, I went…
Posts published in “Essays”
After almost two years of work, the county has taken a conservative approach to regulating medical marijuana, approving a restrictive indoor growing ordinance and a 45-day freeze on dispensary applications. The dispensary moratorium and a…
In May 2011, if you had asked pretty much anyone in Anderson Valley why it was that the ancient redwood groves of Hendy Woods State Park had been spared the axe and sawmill fate that…
Hi, It was definitely stupid for me to mutter at the council meeting that the seven protest letters that we received were “not very compelling.” I absolutely own that. It was a comment that could…
Dear AVA, I don't know what all the fuss is about. “Awesome” is the most phenomenally iconic word ever. Actually I buried and mourned it long ago, interred it with a host of other cheapened,…
When in doubt, wheel on Teddy Roosevelt. It’s in every Democratic president’s playbook. TR was president from 1901 to 1909. He was manly, ranching in North Dakota, exploring the Amazon and nearly expiring on the…
An elderly Arcata resident is alleging that city police illegally raided her home when they executed a search for marijuana that was based on sketchy leads. Barbara Sage, a 64-year-old medical marijuana patient, has filed…
Most everyone in the County will observe the holidays in one way or another. I can remember the first Christmas tree I ever saw and it was about the year 1900 in Murray's Hall in…
I went to Spain at the end of last summer, spending most of the time in Madrid, a fabulous city despite patches of air pollution. There's a large park, Retiro, comparable to Golden Gate Park…