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Steve P

Gods and Others

Gods and Others

  • Travel
What to do on a rare cold and wet day in Arizona? See what’s new at the Phoenix Art Museum.
Fear Shows Us Who We Are

Fear Shows Us Who We Are

  • Opinion

Fear can bring out the best or the worst in us. Which you choose can profoundly affect others.

The Cans of Anacortes

The Cans of Anacortes

  • Travel

Like many small towns in the Pacific Northwest, Anacortes was all about timber and fish.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas

  • News

Merry/Happy/Joyeux whatever from us to you.

Not a Christmas Card

Not a Christmas Card

  • News
Back in the day, I used to write a long letter at this time of year, print maybe forty copies, and mail them to friends and relatives. Did it take a lot of time? Yes. Was it expensive? Yes – International postage is not cheap. Did anyone read it? Who knows?
Depoe Bay and Taft

Depoe Bay and Taft

  • Travel
The first question many of you will have is, “Where is Taft, Oregon?” It’s just north of Cutler City and south of Nelscott. Of course, you may never have heard of these because they are three of the five small towns that merged in 1965 to become Lincoln City,
Devil’s Elbow

Devil’s Elbow

  • Travel
You will no doubt be pleased to hear the the mystery of the name “Devil’s Elbow” has been solved. Sort of.

Heceta Head State Park (which includes Devils Elbow State Park) is located in a cove at the mouth of Cape Creek. There are picnic tables sheltered from the

The Coast

The Coast

  • Travel
Mine was a family of fixed habits. Back in the days of Kennedy and Kesey going out to dinner meant either to the Colonial Inn Buffet run by the VFW, or Johnnie’s Broasted Chicken run by, well, Johnnie.

When the family Buick departed for the coast, we knew that

Spencer’s Butte

Spencer’s Butte

  • Travel
The heart of Eugene, Oregon is bounded by Skinner’s Butte to the north and Spencer’s Butte to the south. What’s a butte, you ask? It’s a hill of modest height. Of the two, Spencer’s is the higher and steeper.

it seems like almost from the

Dockton

Dockton

  • Travel
Dockton is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. But at the end of the Nineteenth century it was very much somewhere. This speck of a now-residential community lies on Maury Island, itself a speck attached by a thin isthmus to the somewhat larger Vashon Island.

What put Dockton on

Favorite Photos

Favorite Photos

  • Photos
I’m aboard Étude on a calm, clear morning in Gig Harbor, Washington. You’d think I’d have something better to do than write a blog post. Apparently not.

While looking at photos from our summer voyage aboard Étude and our recent trip to Europe, I found a few

Bordeaux at Night

Bordeaux at Night

  • Travel
It’s not a long walk from our hotel to the Garonne river, but after a day of walking, we decided to make the trip by tram. We got off at Place de la Bourse where we found a young violinist performing a jazzy version of “Killing Me Softly with
Out and About in Bordeaux

Out and About in Bordeaux

  • Travel
Bordeaux is called the Paris of the South. It’s not as large, of course, and notably lacks a tower or pyramid. But it’s elegant, beautiful, clean and interesting. We will return.

This is going to be one of those “mostly pictures” blog posts because I don’t have