An optimist sees the glass as half full. A pessimist sees the glass as half empty. An engineer sees the glass as being twice as big as it needs to be. I was five years old when my father pointed out the twin granite pillars that cling to Wheeler Crest. “It’s a rabbit,” I said and […]
Continue reading →To Whom It May Concern: I first want to applaud you and your team for the years of marketing and research that has led to a line of products so ubiquitous and flavorful that it is indeed very hard to avoid their convenience or binge-snacking temptation. For who among us that finds themselves in front […]
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From page 163 of “Here’s England” by Ruth McKenney and Richard Bransten Soaring pillars, vaulted roofs, Columns rise unbroken. The great pointed walls of stone, This massive stone; Flight of steep, leads upward. You–subdued, dim, half conscious, Clumsy, solid, naive. The massive walls. You feel awkward, Scared, excited, daring, On the threshold of a dream. […]
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To me it was loud but these park-pond Mallards were accustomed to the racket, still milling around the benches and the water’s edge like it wasn’t even there. I wished they’d fear it. I wanted the lawn mower to scare some lost wild back into their webbed feet and remind them that begging for bread […]
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Tom Schmottlach and I were at it again. This time, to see to a dream of exploring a Sierra-sized chunk of granite that sits high above South Lake, 14 miles west of Bishop. If its orange face were down lower it’d be a destination. If it were in Nebraska, it’d be a State Park. But […]
Continue reading →I was lying in a hammock stretched between two thick trees at the end of a long dirt road. Someone had strung the thing up a few weeks ago and damn if it didn’t make a fine place to while away an afternoon with a good book. The maple’s broad leaves did their best to collect all […]
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A windrow of thick trunks along the road. The scene resolves to black and white and I picture the day when those giants were sown. Burlap sacks of seedlings line the dirt road. Their leaves as big as when mature; Their trunks but twigs, puppies with giant mismatched paws. A man in overalls foots a […]
Continue reading →The next morning was quite chilly, the Sun diffuse through high thin clouds, and I missed my warm coat, having already donated my old one to the Salvation Army. My coat and I were surely out of the honeymoon phase of our brief time together, oh you wild ride cathexis. I wasn’t wearing her anymore […]
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A Mayfly’s Chance At Sunrise Cool breeze, swifts Rule the skies. Clear sun and Rainbows rise. Mayflies roll their dice and Hatch amongst the riffled runs. Tall walls Exaggerate The Owens’ Modest gait. Imply a force more powerful Than vision can relate. Tall gorge walls echo and amplify this little creek. If you close your […]
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Oh Sun. Oh dictator. Your harsh rule imposed upon Death Valley’s landscape in scorched-earth oppression, yet you can’t stifle the inspirative power of a cool Spring rain whispered to the dormant roots of the downtrodden. You can’t hold down the heat-beaten green from a fugitive show of defiance in the face of your hot, dry […]
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