Buck Miner, Mattole’s 90-year-old blind troubadour, celebrated the North Forks in a lyrical book, trailing a contemporary of his father, a salmon named Henrietta, as she returns up the river. Five miles from the Pacific,…
Posts published in “Essays”
The Pacific-slope Flycatchers who entrusted a corner of this ranch house for their nest have fledged their baby Flycatchers and moved on, leaving behind a beautifully constructed, but empty, nest. It's possibly the same Flycatcher…
What's your favorite type of music? Chances are it's from the time you were young, probably even a teenager. This is likely due not just to the memories songs can evoke like nothing else, but…
When my daughter was getting a divorce a while ago I sent my grandson a pup tent and told him to go sleep in the backyard. I told him sometimes a guy’s got to hide.…
I'm sitting here looking at the February 11 issue of the AVA and wondering what I should make of the fact of my work being honored with placement on the front page, above the fold,…
As the older of my two daughters went off to her senior prom last weekend, I couldn’t help but think back to a trip to the local mall to see Disney’s Prom made with her…
A friend suggested that the reason I find contemporary American movies and books and plays and music to be largely junk is that I am just old.
Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, David Crosby, and many other older musicians aver that contemporary popular music today is inferior to the popular music of their day, but that’s just because those guys are old.
The following song is an offering from Nick, who visits his uncle Mitcho from time to time in those far out hills of Yorkville. Two years ago they performed a few songs at the Anderson…
When I got back from Mexico at the end of February I was told by my landlord’s son, Bruce Burton, that he and Chris Baldo were taking over the property to mill their redwood and…