Opinion

I had an occasion this week to walk across town. My roommate reminded me that she had walked our best friend, Ranger, for the past couple of days and she would appreciate some assistance. She was pretty busy today working with the American Legion...

Because yesterday, Tuesday, March 19, was the Equinox, that happily makes this morning the first day of Spring and a long-established ritual assigned to this time of year is Spring Cleaning. In keeping with this What-Stays-What-Goes protocol, I have scrapped all my scraps. There...

Crossing Nevada is similar to my memory of crossing Texas. It goes on forever. And just when you think it has to end, it carries on. Acres of mining, solar panels and corrections. Electricity poles line the freeway for miles, as if there were...

The comment, often offered as criticism, that for writers of columns it is “all about them” and so of little value beyond opinion, which we all have. Very true. If you regularly read Lucy’s stuff up in Soledad or every Wednesday in Gonzales you...

I remember my grandparents very clearly. They were our safe harbor when things in the house were a little stormy. My grandma was quiet and sweet, mostly seen with knitting needles in her hands and a soft smile. She made the best chocolate cakes...

Wow! Things are sure happening fast. By things I mean politics and the folks that claim that they are politicians. I just sat down to write my column this week and started getting a little concerned. I might point out that if you aren’t...

It’s kind of strange to start a column like that, but I have been struck with a book I have been reading and I haven’t even finished the first chapter. It’s called “Hillbilly Elegy,” by J.D. Vance. This is the guy the Republicans have...

It took me forever to get a college degree. Really. It was nearly 30 years and over 330 miles apart — from September of 1970 when I enrolled as a drama major at Hartnell in Salinas until March of 2000 before I got an...

The other day Lorraine and I were talking with a family friend about my column. The friend said she particularly liked the articles about the military, not because she served but because she had loved ones that had served in that little skirmish 10,000...

OK, so I’m 21 years old and I’m driving this flatbed dooley along the horseshoe canal and two guys come running toward me frantically waving their arms, and because I know these young men, I stop the vehicle. Good opening sentence, huh? Let me...