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Posts published in “Essays”

Quiet Fun

“Is ditchwater dull? Naturalists with microscopes have told me that it teems with quiet fun.” — G. K. Chesterton I don’t own a microscope; if I did, I’m sure I wouldn’t know what to do…

Bernie Sanders: Independent in Name Only

Take this as a national parable. Once upon a time–in the early eighties, actually–there was a progressive coalition in Vermont designed to become a third force in politics. One of its prime spokesmen was Bernie…

Narcissism as Politics

Not far from Stafford there's a thousand-year-old tree, once slated for destruction, that will now live on for centuries. Except for a pitifully small “buffer zone,” the primeval forest surrounding it will vanish while this…

A Noxious Species: Plastic Greens

The land war in Southern California reaches back at least to the early 1990s. In those years, the big developers — Pardee, Bren Home, McMillan, Standard American, and the Irvine Land Company were building sprawling…

The 1950s in Anderson Valley

In the 1950s there were more than 20 lumber mills in Anderson Valley. The mills were often surrounded by houses that in the beginning of the lumber boom were called shacks. A high percentage of…

Trying Times

My pets tend to live a long time. That’s the good news and the bad news. The good news is that a long life usually is a sign of a well-lived life. The bad news…

Bad Snakes and Red-Headed Women

Anderson Valley High School’s head football coach for the past 13 years has been Dan Kuny. His mother was a red-headed Arkie woman who died much too young from cancer. She was a vivid lady…

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