Category Archives: Uncategorized

Today I finished the long and arduous task of tearing out the rotten floor of my garage. Before my parents had bought this house, the garage had been set down on a floor platform made of huge planks and beams … Continue reading →

Teckla and I often see hitchhikers at the edge of Coos Bay as we head for home after work. Highway 101 runs through Coos Bay and is the best north/south route for hitchhikers on the west coast. Today at the … Continue reading →

On my recent hike to the top of Mount Bolivar, I made a little excursion along a ridge that ran west from the summit. Before going off trail, I called Teckla to let her know where to look for my … Continue reading →

One of the characteristics of the heroic age was what scholars call the heroic boast—the bold declaration of what a warrior has done and is about to do. Beowulf does this in his great saga. This tradition has lived on … Continue reading →

We are now a society obsessed with a coming apocalypse: a climate change ice-age, wave after wave of zombies, earthquakes, volcanoes, tsunamis, plagues, asteroids, and hemorrhoids. All this makes for great drama magnified by special effects. But after a while … Continue reading →

My mother is 91 and has, for almost forever, been praying. I know she prayed for her three boys and now prays for all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She is really sweet, but can pray mean: “Lord, make them miserable … Continue reading →

I had been working in my office hours without a break, so I decided to a hike around the lake in search of dragonflies. A few yards outside my office I spotted a dragon fly—a Saffron-winged Meadowhawk which zooms off … Continue reading →

Once in a while I see a mourning cloak butterfly on campus. They actually aren’t common on the coast but my college sits on the edge of a lake edged with willows, the butterfly’s host plant. Despite its name, this … Continue reading →

My four boys have gone through a number of vehicles. For a while Peter had a black Jeep. Until he owned a Jeep, Teckla and I had never noticed how many Jeeps were on the road—they are everywhere around here. … Continue reading →