Press "Enter" to skip to content

Posts published in “Essays”

First, The Good Newes

Edward Winslow’s Good Newes from New-England published in 1624 in London begins its account in November of 1621. There is no word of the first Thanksgiving. As David Silverman shows in his This Land Is…

Dark Light: A Thanksgiving Parable

Winter in California, decades ago. I’d come back from traveling the world for almost two years after graduate school, with the primary aim of reuniting with my long lost true love. We’d rekindled it all…

AV Land Trust Sues Peachland Family (Part 12)

Jim Snyder, our High School Principal, sued me in court in Ukiah. I’m still trying to figure out why.  Some current news stories feel eerily familiar. Lawsuits have been filed but are lacking any supporting…

The Answer, Hiding In Plain Sight

Bob Dylan, now in his 80th year and whose shadow blankets the last half-century of American culture, is both a celebrated hero and a man whose journey has doubtless been a burden. Who would want…

R.I.P. Maze

I have always wondered what happened to a corn maze after Halloween. I think about all of the work just put into raising the corn. Having to figure just what plants to omit so that…

The Search for Something Better

In the early 1980s I did logging work on the Lookout Ranch for the Shandel's of Comptche.  My impression was they had purchased the property from Ida Jackson, the proceeds of the sale were donated…

Taxicab Memories

I can still remember that first fare in my New York taxi: an older white-haired woman standing at Union Square on 17th Street. I cruised to a stop and picked her up but had no…

Eat the 2020 Election

Voters were definitely on edge Election Day, but not so edgy that they couldn’t or didn’t abstain from eating. From coast-to-coast and in what’s known as “fly over country,” Joe Biden supporters watched the results…

Running For His Life

Say you walk into a Willits bar. John's place maybe. You order up a draft and start talking sports with the guy next to you. He does a monologue on his triumphant sports days at…

-