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WORLD CLASS WINE WORKING OVERTIME

This is a glass of wine, world class wine. Mmm, mmm. It originally comes from the Hawks View Winery in Sherwood, Oregon. Today it came from my basement, racked with the other wine in the house. If you’ve heard of  Sherwood, it’s probably from reading about Robin Hood in Sherwood Forest. Is it world class? […]

SELF DEFENSE WITH THE PROPER MOVES

Self defense? I’ve never taken a class, but I encourage anyone to do it. Learn how to find a solution to a difficult problem. How much is too much? How far is too far? Where to start? In my mid to late teens I was a small town high school wrestler.

HOW COLLEGE FOOTBALL MATTERS

Football matters to everyone who has played the game in the backyard, in the street, and on the football field. It matters because we all like to think we were as good as the guys playing today; our teams were better than their record. No matter the level of play, we were so much better […]

LISTENING PRACTICE: START SOONER THAN LATER

Listening practice with Ernest Hemingway: “We learn to talk by two, we learn to listen by sixty.” That he was dead at sixty-one says something about his listening skills? Nooooooo.

HARD RAIN FALLING, GUTTERS OVERFLOWING, NOW WHAT?

I’ve got a hard rain falling in drops you can see. Not the usual drizzle, not a sheet of water, but individual drops spaced and timed to perfection. It’s cold out, the kind of day that makes you think of other places you’ve heard about, seen on advertisements, the kind of cold and wet people […]

ON REMEMBERING ANNIVERSARIES

My wife is great for remembering anniversaries and birthdays. It’s an encyclopedic memory of family, friends, and pretty much anyone who has ever been born. At least that’s what it feels like in comparison to her husband, who is more selective. I remember plenty, I’m not saying I don’t, but ask me the birthday of […]

EVERYBODY COMES FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE? GET OVER IT

Q: Where are you from? A: All over the place. Q: Where did you grow up? A: It’s a long list.

WHY AUTHENTIC MUSEUMS STILL MATTER

I’ve been inside authentic museums of all kinds, from the Gene Autry Museum of the American West, to the Petersen Automotive Museum, to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans. They all come with a suspension of disbelief. Does everything have to be perfect? Noooooo. But they do have to be authentic.

HOW TO WRITE, WHAT TO WRITE ABOUT

How to write seems self-explanatory. Why bother is the real question. My Grandma on my Mom’s side passed this pearl of wisdom along: “Smart people talk about ideas, normal people talk about places, dumb people talk about other people.” With that mind, who are the big gossips in your group?

NEW YEARS DAY WITH OREGON DUCKS

My thanks go to the Oregon Ducks on New Years Day. Because of this college football team I watched three games in a row. With my wife. First, we talked: