Yesterday, Terri and I went north about five miles to Olalla for a couple of hours of fly fishing. Down the stairs near Al’s Market (now closed – hopefully only temporarily) and then along the beach. We hoped to catch the outgoing tide so we arrived near the lower high…

Reading an essay by Tom McGuane is always a pleasure. This one, from The Longest Silence (published 2001), is about how people choose fly rods. What should seem to be a logical process mostly isn’t. EVERY FLY FISHERMAN has an unreasoning view of fly rods; and I am no different….

The COVID-19 virus has shattered the health and wealth of the American people. Over 30 million have filed for unemployment benefits, 70,000 of our citizens are dead, and there is no end in sight. And ominously, a Trump administration model estimates 3,000 daily dead by June. The majority of people…

I’ve watched a number of news reports on the challenges people face while living under stay-at-home directives. It is indeed difficult to live in close proximity to other people (even loved family members) for extended periods. But after serving in the US submarine force, I believe there are rules to…

(*Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year was published in 1722. It recounts the experiences of one man during the Bubonic Plague in London in the year 1665). If nothing else, the COVID-19 pandemic highlights how we perceive the dynamic nature of time and events. And it will certainly…

Last night while driving to an appointment I heard Rachel Maddow on Sirius satellite radio discuss a November 2016 article by Masha Gessen related to the forthcoming Trump presidency. Gessen is a Russian-American journalist who has written extensively about Russia under Vladimir Putin. She took both Hillary Clinton and Barack…

Scotch or bourbon – with ice, water or club soda. That’s before dinner and those are your only choices. At least that’s one of the rules for alcoholic drinks Norman Maclean (author of A River Runs Through It) gave writer Rebecca McCarthy in her wonderful remembrance of a summer spent…

The United States today aren’t – united that is. Riven by partisan conflict, lack of agreement on the role of governance in our society, and a loss of faith in the institutions that provide the structure for society – we seem to be fracturing into separate nations. Some states even…

Thanksgiving is, or at least should be, a time for a reflection and giving thanks for all we have. This year for me has been more intense than any I’ve experienced. As I’ve written about, the majority of this year has been spent recovering from my heart attack on January…

As he has done with the Department of Justice and the Department of State, Donald Trump has now corrupted the Department of Defense and the US military. Violating the chain of command and and inserting himself in decisions related to both proven and alleged war crimes means that good order…