Fear Shows Us Who We Are
Fear can bring out the best or the worst in us. Which you choose can profoundly affect others.
The Cans of Anacortes
Like many small towns in the Pacific Northwest, Anacortes was all about timber and fish.
Not a Christmas Card
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
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
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
Château LaTour-Martillac
Have you toured a winery? If so, you’ll see a lot that’s familiar in this post. Winemaking is like many other things – brain surgery, for instance – everyone does the same thing; some just do it better than others.
Château LaTour-Martillac is a small producer run by five brothers
Le Tour de Géants
Pau is a small town just north of the Pyrenees often used as either the beginning or the end of a stage of the Tour de France. If you’re a fan of the Tour, you’ll know Pau.
imagine my surprise to discover this monument to Tour winners in
Pigs and Fishes
The main reason that we came on this trip, the founding principle if you like, was to visit the Basque Country. We’ve been in and around it for a few days now, but today we headed into the heart.
Before I show you what we found there, let’s