By Friday afternoon, I had reached my limit with civilization. Too many people, talking loudly about nothing, too many glowing screens demanding attention like needy little dictators, too many schedules, notifications, passwords, updates, and other modern inventions specifically designed to… Continue reading

It came to pass, in a most ordinary sort of way, that while rummaging through my past, I stumbled upon a small geological layer of myself dated March 1982. These were not grand scrolls preserved by monks, nor even the… Continue reading

Some places, thankfully, do not feel owned by the modern world. And Pyramid Lake is one of them. You can drive there in a pickup with the radio playing and a gas-station burrito sweating in the passenger seat, but the… Continue reading

I have always trusted abandoned places more than crowded ones. Crowded places lie to you. They polish themselves up, put lights in the windows, and tell you everything is fine. Ruins, on the other hand, are honest. That is how… Continue reading

A man reaches a certain age when he begins planning solitude with the seriousness other people reserve for weddings and military invasions. That trip had been sitting in my mind for months. Not because it was exotic. Northern Nevada does… Continue reading

There are places in Northern Nevada that do not care whether a man finds them. The casinos flash and holler for attention. The highway signs wave at you every ten miles. But the old desert east of Lovelock sits still… Continue reading

The morning at Lois Allen Elementary School began as most mornings do. Backpacks bounced against small shoulders, and car doors slammed. Teachers carried coffee cups through the front entrance while children drifted toward classrooms beneath the pale Nevada sky. Then,… Continue reading

The red and blue lights came alive behind the sedan just north of Bellevue Road, flashing across the dark ribbon of I-580 like lightning trapped in glass. Jose Arias-Aquino gripped the steering wheel tighter. A deputy stepped to the driver’s… Continue reading

There was a time when I could walk into a bar wearing yesterday’s shirt and leave with somebody’s phone number written on a cocktail napkin. Sometimes two. Back then, people laughed too hard at my jokes. Women leaned in close… Continue reading

Well, now, here I sit on this fine Father’s Day morning, contemplating the peculiar nature of familial obligations, or rather, the complete and utter lack thereof on my dear offspring’s part. The calendar declares this a day for honoring fathers,… Continue reading