Chapter 24: mid 1940s • Sonora ~ No Sunday or Holy Day passed without Dad taking the children to Mass. Some Sundays they attended St. Anne's in Columbia, other Sundays they went to Mass in Jamestown. Sometimes they drove to Tuolumne, during summer camping trips they heard... Continue
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This morning it is bitter cold. I go out and pick up the newspaper and it is almost a Minnesota, brittle bite of cold that I feel. But, back inside, in our little Springs house, in my favorite chair, with my feet up on an... Continue
I was never much of an athlete as a child. I was well coordinated, and certainly strong enough, but spending hours practicing a sport was not of much interest to me. My grammar school experience didn’t help; in fact, gym class with Mr. D discouraged... Continue
Awed by all we’ve been through, from fire seasons to silent streets with worldwide plague, we wonder what matters. Uncertain about our future, we feel more vulnerable. Questions loom as we reflect on our lives at this turn of the year. We ponder many things,... Continue
It is hard to believe that it is already December. As many do at this time of year, I am reflecting on the ups and downs of the past twelve months, the significant progress made on pressing county issues, and the ongoing work and challenges... Continue
From a very young age I knew guns kill. That is the purpose of a gun, to kill animals or other humans. A 17-year-old brings a gun to a protest, kills two people, and is acquitted on all counts. The verdict was that it was... Continue
Richard Heinberg, a recognized authority on energy, has just published a new book called Power, which he defines as, well, energy. He spoke before a receptive group at PraxisPeace, in one of a series of zoom talks put together by director Georgia Kelly under the... Continue
On December 7th I’ll be checking into the hospital to undergo a cardiac ablation procedure, a process of inserting electrodes and catheters into a blood vessel in my groin, snaking them up and into my heart, and using them to cauterize some confused heart cells... Continue
Chapter 23: 1946 • Sonora ~ On a sunny Saturday, Mom brought home six-dozen chicks from the feed store and enclosed them in the safety of the chicken coop. The next day, Carleen, Betty, and Claudia gently carried them from the pen to the front yard, cradling... Continue
The yearlong slow and painful whittling down of the initially ambitious Build Back Better bill – which at full strength could have saved Biden from the impending midterm demolition by providing quick material benefit to millions of stressed, precarious households – now hangs by a... Continue