Fur farming

College summers I worked as a landscaper in Pittsford, NY. That seasonal employment attracted students as well as an occasional mature adult who was transient or “between jobs.” On one crew we had a man who was the recently deposed art director of an advertising agency. Another crew had a man with a PhD in Biology.
One of these [...]

What’s in a name?

Janice was kind of wild. So was I. We worked together at Kodak when we were in our twenties. She accompanied us “guys” when we went to lunch together at the little restaurant next door and played pool. A couple Friday nights, she and I went out on the town. Just the two of us. We weren’t romantically involved, we just enjoyed each other’s company.
One Friday [...]

The Hawaiians are coming! The Hawaiians are coming!

This weekend I caught segments of the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA. I’m not really a fan; I just stumbled upon the broadcast and was immediately captivated by the action. Three pitches in twenty seconds. Four-foot-something kids knocking the ball out of the park. Struck-out batters walking respectfully from the plate. Defensive plays like you’d [...]

Kiss live! Kiss unplugged. Kiss dead.

Kiss in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Env5iMrBjws&feature=related
The three axemen leave the stage; the drummer comes forward and sings the ballad, Beth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STm9_lUn-8Y&feature=related
The three axemen wait it out backstage while the drummer sings Beth: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMi8ZC4QH5o&feature=related

Bald eagle crashes wedding

Last week my nephew and his fiancee, Chris, got married. They had an outdoor wedding with a Hawaiian theme. The ceremony was held in a gazebo, at the north end of Hemlock Lake, one of the smaller Finger Lakes here in Upstate New York. It was a quite a sight seeing 150 people in wild Hawaiian shirts – many with [...]

Cell phone culture: how convenient!

Cell phones are convenient. You can call almost anyone, from almost anywhere. Cell phones are also one of the biggest hose-the-consumer rackets out there, just behind the credit card dictatorship government under which we live. With cell phones you can pay for extra charges almost anytime, anywhere.
You start by buying a new phone for $200. [...]

Cell phone culture: the umbilical cord

Sitting near me in the diner was a man in a work uniform. His cell rang. He answered it, listened for a moment, then said, “You need to order the whole valve assembly. The guy at Debby Supply will know; just tell him ‘the whole assembly.’ I’ll pick it up there in about forty-five minutes…good-bye.”
That may be the [...]

Stay on your side of the hump! riding in the car then and now

Modern car safety laws may have made our lives safer, but in some instances have reduced our quality of life. When families drove around in the ’50s and ’60s we kids could climb over the seats and beat the crap out of each other. We could trespass on our brother’s side of the back seat and [...]

Washington State: logging mania

I’m not a tree hugger. I was once in the firewood business, personally involved in converting thousands of trees to woodstove heat, fireplace atmosphere, and ultimately, smoke up the chimney. Those were good times. It was good work. Perhaps because I cut down so many trees, I’m more aware of them than people who drive past them [...]

Washington State: Geoduck farming on the Puget Sound

 

Every state seems to have its idiosyncrasies. Arizona, its dry heat; Nevada, its exploding population; Massachusetts, its colonial history; Minnesota, its lakes. The state of Washington, which I’ve visited, has several. Among them are extreme wealth, lumbering mania, and – one I never heard of until I visited – clam-like animals called geoducks (pronounced “gooey” [...]