We have our stories, my tools and I. Got my first chainsaw for twenty-five bucks from Ralph Hoffman, the small engine guy in Mariposa town. I think he was doing me a favor, giving me that price for a very used Pioneer, Canadian brand, noisy and heavy, life-saving. Fire crew boss at the Forest … More The tools
In the book of this name, Huxley most certainly did not approve of the technology of this modern world. So, honestly, I don’t know what to think about an automatic, solar powered, Internet linked, self-harvesting, multi-hive bee apartment house with built-in health care. Don’t know if Huxley would see BeeWise as furthering fascism. Don’t know … More Oh, Brave New World…
A bit under 20 years ago the US and Brits invaded Iraq, a country a little smaller than Texas. Our combined invasion force was about 195,000 which massed openly in a neighboring nation. The justification, mistaken at best, was that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction which they might use against the innocent or against … More I heard the news today, oh boy
Winter of 1977 I was holed up in a Yosemite Valley hotel room writing. Took an afternoon break with a friend to get a beer at the Broiler Room and nearly everybody was talking about The Airplane, about the marijuana being salvaged from a lake toward the south end of the Park. If I’d been more … More The Airplane
Back in the mid-90s I spent two years on and off in Bosnia where there had just been a war. Quick review: in about 1993 a First World Country slipped into genocide in a matter of weeks, goaded by flagrant racist propaganda on TV…. an advanced multi-ethnic European country with push-button telephones, color TV, automobile … More Fragile
Every year I’ve been here in the mountain bunker there is a time in February that loudly announces the End of Winter. A week or more of balmy nights, days in the mid-70s, bright sunshine. Might as well plant the garden. And every year I’ve been here that False Spring is jerked away, often with … More Ah, California
Tom DeVries 