Sometimes there is simply no relief from the pain of life – or more to the point – death. Tuesday night as we lay in bed, me trying to fall asleep, my wife was on her device when she learned that our friend and former next-door neighbor had passed away earlier in the day. We…

“Ah, geez. Make it stop!” I wrote to my friend, Elizabeth Rose after she messaged me about Tim’s passing. She responded, “I know, my friend.” Number eight for 2018, but whose counting. Me. After trying to write this for a while I realized that I’ve nearly come up short on words as they’re sounding the…

UPDATE: R. Lee Ermey will be laid to rest with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery at 10:00 a.m. January 18, 2019. He had the roughest exterior in nearly every show or movies he ever did, but inside, R. Lee Ermey was a gentle soul. That’s the best way I can describe the man and it hurt’s…

It’s interesting the people we get to know when we’re not trying. That’s exactly how it was with Art Bell, who passed away at his Pahrump home in Nye County, Nevada on Friday the 13th (he’d have enjoyed the irony) and with whom I had the pleasure of being acquainted. Interestingly, it happened while I wasn’t…

There’s little worse than waking up to learn that someone you’ve known for more than half your life is suddenly gone. That’s what happened on April 4th, when I found out my friend Pete Meyer had passed away. What a nasty punch in the gut, followed by an inability to breath for a few seconds…

stand tall drink water take only as much you need you are stronger than what you think exhale the good in you dig deeper when you feel lost, remember your roots remain flexible take energy from the sun

“Never begin a story with, ‘It was a dark and stormy night…’” the teacher instructed. She was talking about the often-mocked and parodied opening sentence written by English novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton from his 1830 novel ‘Paul Clifford.’ The student raised his hand and quietly waited to be called on before asking, “But what if it was…

The photographer led the willowy politician down the hall to a darkened room holding only a table, two books and a column. He placed the man’s hand atop the volumes in a casual pose, having him look into the camera instead of away. Standing behind a three-legged contraption, the photographer flung a black sheet over…

When the name of God is used, it must be done so on an individual basis. While some do not believe in God, for others their personal understanding of God is specific or it is very general. God either simply does not exist; is an unseen entity without personal interaction; or God is the Creator,…

Yet another friend has passed away and I find myself, sitting quietly, in a numbed state of mind. Double-tough and yet double-tender, Lani Crockett died on March 16, 2018. She graduated from Del Norte High School in 1974, receiving her degree (I think in ‘Women’s Studies,’) from Humboldt State University in Arcata, finding employment as…