tales
essays and stories
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Through a bubble, darkly
I will never forget the day we moved to Hayward, California. It was October 1979. I was seven years old. There was a huge statue of a lumberjack on the side of the highway, leaning forward on a street closely crowded with pavement and buildings and cars. There were no trees anywhere in sight. I thought that the lumberjack had cut all the trees down. His hands were frozen awkwardly out in front of his body, one palm up and the other palm down, as if he was holding something impressive and heavy. But his hands were empty.
bookshelf
interesting reads
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The bird next door: the time an Oakland turkey rose to captivate the world
The wild turkey of Morcom Rose Garden became world famous for being beautiful, quirky, rather hostile, and definitely insane — not unlike Oakland itself.
catalog
latest posts
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Revolution dream
Back in the day I published underground magazines. I dreamed about a revolution — not the violent kind, but a revolution of the collective mind. Later in life I learned that revolution is an eternal dream, like life itself, and reality always comes crashing back down. Until one day, it doesn’t.
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Revolution dream
Back in the day I published underground magazines. I dreamed about a revolution — not the violent kind, but a revolution of the collective mind. Later in life I learned that revolution is an eternal dream, like life itself, and reality always comes crashing back down. Until one day, it doesn’t.
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All cooped up
These three beauties showing how shelter-in-place is done. But their social distancing still needs some work.
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Little free library
For years I resisted the idea of installing a little free library. This was mostly due to my curmudgeonly nature. I don’t want a bunch of people hanging around the front step, I’d grumble. I spend all day taking care of libraries. I don’t need another one to take care of, bah! But eventually, my better angels prevailed.
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Glass house #3
Panel with geodes, translucent stones, copper, lead and stained glass. The effect is like an organically formed window in an ancient cavern wall, timeless and serene. Sunlight filters through and refracts in a panoply of color and form.
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Roadside encounter
We were driving down a desert highway in the Mojave when we saw this tortoise in the middle of the road. He was in grave danger of being struck by a speeding car. We quickly pulled over, ran back to him, gently picked him up and placed him safely on the side of the road where he was headed. Several cars zoomed by us as we took a quick photo. I pretended to give our new friend a parting kiss before we went our separate ways again
