Category: random

Elko County’s famous Flying Sheriff, Jesse “Jess” C. Harris is the son of Sheriff Joseph C. Harris, who headed the same office from 1910 to 1936.  The younger Harris came into office in 1950 and served until 1974.

Between Joe and Jess, they served 50 years in the 20th century as the county’s sheriff.

And though he’s not related to Jess and Joe, Neil Harris, took office in 1990, serving for 17 years. That means one Harris or another had been sheriff for 66 of those 97 years.

As Howard Hickson, Director Emeritus of the Northeastern Nevada Museum in Elko, writes, “Good name to have when running for sheriff in Elko County. Statistically, there was a Sheriff Harris 69-percent of the time.”

This year marks the tenth anniversary of blogging for me. And still I keep learning about this format.

If this were a marriage, a gift of tin would be proper.

First, I should never post more than one entry per day. Anymore than that and I drive you away from taking the time to read it.

Second, keeping each entry short and simple is the best approach to this sort of format. More than a thousand words and you won’t take the time to read what I’ve written.

Third, posting political commentary is a turn-off.  I removed all the political content from my blog-site and you never noticed.

Here’s to another ten years.

It’s wonderful to slip into bed, close the eyes and let the world sink away. A good night’s sleep helps the body and mind refresh from all the worries of the day.

And when we go to bed early – we can wake up early, getting jump on the day ahead. The time can be used for journaling, taking that half-hour walk or even spending time reading the Holy Bible or meditating.

At least, this how I wish my days were – but I work the third and first shifts — so I must adjust my hours so. With this, I’ve also learned to sleep in shifts; two, four hours periods of sleep with an hour or two in-between.

It all comes down to a positive attitude and living within the circumstances of life.

We’re more creative than we give ourselves credit for. That’s because you and I often suppress them before they can grow.

Can’t afford that.
That won’t work.
Shouldn’t do this.

If you can, you must gather the courage not to censor your ideas, your thoughts.  Instead we should surprise ourselves with the free flow of our imaginations.

Truck won’t start.
Roof is leaking.
Porch light shorts-out.
Forgot to pay a bill.

Small stuff can pile up and ruin a day, but only if we allow them. You and I can’t think big thoughts all the time, but we can keep the little ones in perspective and not let them overwhelm us.

Time and a again I’ve heard, “It’ll get better if you give it some time,” or “Time heals all wounds.”

It’s like time is some sort of magical healer. However, time does not change anything — you and I do.

It’s the work that we do while time is passing that changes things. The good news is that neither of us has to wait even a minute to start this work.

En route home from the post office as song came over the radio that reminded me of one of my favorite radio station stories. This one involves my friend Geno Clauson and a Trisha Yearwood Song.

We were both working at Reno’s country music station KHIT at the time. The song was, “She’s in Love with the Boy,” a big hit for the future Mrs. Garth Brooks.

Geno was working the weekend evening shift, when he back-announced the song. That means he told listeners the name of the artist and the song’s title.

Backing up jus’ a bit, Geno is an ethnic Jew. This means he doesn’t practice the faith and never has, rather he has an ancestral connection to ‘God’s chosen people.’

So as he back announced the song, he said: “Trisha Yearwood and ‘She’s in Love with the Goya.’”

And yes, he said it on purpose.

Later in his weekly air-check session with our Program Director, a recording of the back-announce was played for review. While Dan laughed, he told Geno it was probably best not to use references like this because those listening wouldn’t under stand what “Goya,” meant.

The people driving along side me must have thought I was nuts and laughed out loud at the memory. Incidentally, “Goya,” is a Hebrew and Yiddish term for a non-Jewish person; synonymous with “gentile.”

We were hunkered down in a group of ruined mud and wood framed huts at the edge of a larger village. It was chow-time and the grub was being passed around.

That’s when someone shouted, “Hold your fire, hold your fire.”

Several of us stood up and looked in the direction of the voice. That’s when I saw this smallish man in khaki uniform running towards us.

At first I though he was the one yelling at us to hold our fire, but then I realized he was a local. Behind him were several men, all yelling and shouting in Spanish.

We watched as the man raced by our position, followed closely by the hostile group that seemed intent on bodily harming, if not worse the first guy. No one tried to stop either the man or the crowd.

Not one Marine raised a rifle, which is a good thing as their would have been casualties. However, I’ve often wondered if the little dude was ever caught, and if so, what happened to him.

More than 30 years would pass before there would be another expedition to the northern most point of California. Although the Spanish Empire claimed during the 1500s, the area that now comprises Del Norte County, it was an Englishman who became the first European to make landfall on the Northcoast.

Francis Drake, commanding the Golden Hind, sailed into the Pacific Ocean around the tip of South America in 1578, working his way north past Peru and Panama. His crew of privateers plundered several Spanish colonial towns and ships along the way.

Just as his ship and crew were reaching 43 degrees north latitude, heavy, cold winds forced the Golden Hind towards the shoreline. He anchored in a bay exposed to wind gusts, rain and heavy fog.

When the weather became more moderate, he turned south, traveling during the day and anchoring at night for nearly two weeks. He sought a harbor where he could fix the ship’s leaks and go ashore for food and fresh water.

Among the places he passed up to anchor was the Crescent City reef.

Eventually he stopped somewhere between Crescent City and Point Loma, making contact with Indians and restocked his ship. Drake claimed the Northcoast for England, calling it Nova Albion.

Legend says that some of his men stayed ashore to start a small colony. But Drake’s mission largely was about plundering Spanish galleons and colonial towns.

England never sent a ship to check on this alleged colony.

Drake ultimately would become famous for helping the English defeat the great Spanish Armada in 1588. He served as second-in-command of the English fleet during that attack.

Usually when I go through a bout of insomnia, I lay in bed reminiscing and thinking of new story lines for future blog postings. However the last couple of nights and early mornings I’ve been fantasizing about a very peculiar idea.

It comes by way of to ships that have been and are still important in my childhood. One is the S.S. United States, which me and my parents were aboard as we came to America and the other is the Ship-Ashore in Smith River, which is home to a museum and gift shop.

In this world I’ve made up, I’ve somehow managed to drag  the 47,300 ton luxury liner nicknamed the “Big U,” some 2,500 miles from it dry-dock to the middle of the Nevada desert. Once secured, I turned it into a sand-bound casino-resort and hotel.

Sometimes, one really needs a far out dream…