The Beaver’s moved into the old house at the end of the long dirt road as if overnight. The next day there were two more children in the neighborhood to play with. Bridget and Brett Beaver were both blonde and slight in build. Bridget was the younger of the two and had difficulty breathing at…

It was the day after President Ronald Reagan ordered a strike against Libyan Dictator Muammar Gaddafi. I was working for KROI/KPLY in Sparks at a remote for a home and garden show inside the Conventions Center. I was accompanied by the station’s program director. As I was prepping to do another sixty-second cut-in on the…

“Merry Christmas, Doc!” the gunnery sergeant barked as he spooned a heap of dressing on my tray. “Same to you, Guns,” I replied half-heartedly. Setting my tray at a the stand-up table where a few other Marines were wolfing down their Christmas Eve fare in the makeshift mess hall, I stared at my food not…

Even though a storm left several inches of new fallen snow in the Sierra Mountain this last week, I decided to use one of my days off to get out and enjoy the winter weather with a hike at Donner Lake.  Once in the parking lot of the interpretive center, I found I couldn’t visit…

1996 Some claim the cowpoke’s insane, For he rides in the snow and the rain. He’ll curse his dumb luck, Or a roan that won’t buck, And frown if you call him John Wayne.

When I was in the U.S. Air Force, Strategic Air Command was still a part of the services’ culture. It disbanded in 1992, considered an outmoded form of defense. What I recall from those days was Sac’s motto:  “Peace is Our Profession.” I’ve often thought about this and long ago realized it was true because peace comes…

The look on the deputies face was one of puzzlement, I thought. I recognized him as someone who I had attended high school with, though he was three years older than me. “Yes, Darby,” I repeated to the deputy as we both stood in the glare emitted from the patrol car’s headlights. I was holding…

There is a difference between a great nation and a good nation. America is not only a great nation, but moreover, it is a good nation. Russia is also a great nation. But this is simply in terms of military power and influence within the United Nations. Likewise, China remains a great nation, in the same respect as…

The day following President Obama’s election to a second term, Nevada Senator and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said he is working to change the rules governing filibusters. He claims Republicans had “abused” the procedure and hamstrung the chamber. “Everyone should understand we’re going to move to change the Republican plot to make the Senate…

Hiker Preston Morrow found Steve Fossett’s identification cards on in the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California. The crash site was discovered a few days later, 65 miles due south from the Flying-M Ranch where he took off, and 5 miles  due west of Mammoth Mountain Ski Area’s base operations, although his remains were not initially…