At the end of nearly every summer, we’d receive a box from our Aunt and Uncle filled with hand-me-down clothes. It wasn’t until high school that I came to think of this as uncool, as I didn’t want to be seen wearing used clothes. It wasn’t that we were poor, because we were far from…

We were moving as quietly as possible along the outskirts of a town believed to be home to a coca-producing operation. The idea was to get in close enough to observe and then bust everyone in one surprise movement. I was in the fifth position as our squad used a small ditch for cover during…

Back in the day my hiking gear consisted of an old canvas knapsack. It had no frame, no padding, no waist belt, and was too small to hold what you needed. I also had a walking stick — plucked from a random tree along the way. My sleeping bag and tent were tied to the…

It was the oddest thing – I went outside to bring in our flags and I discovered a bottle setting on our welcome mat. Looking west down our street I saw two teenaged girls walking away. Each turned, looked my direction and continued walking along the side-walk. So I picked the bottle up, brought it…

Having worked the early shift at the Reno Hilton, I was looking forward to having the next day off. I planned to go to the local drive-in theater at El Rancho and 9th to see a movie, with the hope of forgetting about some of my problems for a while. Before hand, I stopped at…

Grandpa Bill had a small blacksmith shop attached to the side of his home. I would often spend the day with him as he fashioned horseshoes, fixed hinges and othe items for neighbors. When he wasn’t pounding on his anvils — he had several different sizes — he was using them for entertainment purposes. He…

There is nothing better than a practical joke that leaves everyone belly laughing.  Sometimes, though a gag can get away from those perpetrating it. Our house mate, Kay was busy pulling a few weeds in the front yard one early afternoon, when I saw an opportunity to pull a “fast one” on her. I casually involved…

Kitty Harriman passed away on June 28, 2011. She was the oldest of nine children and lived most of her life in Del Norte County, where she and her husband Dale raised their children, and later their grandchildren. In her younger years, Kitty was a waitress, then a welder during World War II. Later she…

My wife loves to bake. She had jus’ finished making a couple dozen chocolate chip cookies and she gave me one. I am — after all — her official taster — when Kyle isn’t around. Anyway, I had this cookie in my left hand and was getting ready to bite into it, when she asked…

At one point in my life I wanted to take from my military service what I had learned and apply it towards a degree in nursing. With that in mind, I took a part-time job working the graveyard shift at the local convalescent hospital. It didn’t take very long to realize I was in over my head…