I bought my first house, a modest Craftsman bungalow, a few years after I moved to the Pacific Northwest. The house was small, with a tiny front lawn and a small backyard dominated by an ancient apple tree. One sunny weekend there was a knock on my front door....

One of my favorite Father’s Day presents was the variety pack of 24 bottles of hot sauces from around the world. That was about three years ago, and I figure I’ve still got about 19 bottles left. Clearly, I’ve got some catching up to do, before the hot sauces...

It took getting the bottom of my shoes caked with a mixture of sheep dung, duck poop, and hay for me to realize that I know next to nothing about farm life. Not really a surprising revelation, having lived all my life in urban environments. After all, most of...

Ask anyone who’s known me for at least ten minutes, and they would tell you that I am not a fashionista. I wear black in summer, shorts in winter, and don’t organize my clothes by seasons. I never owned an iron until I got married. I’m pretty sure rayon,...

On May 13th, 1950, Diners Club issued its very first credit card, and Giuseppe Farina won the first ever Formula 1 World Drivers Championship. Also on that day, to much less fanfare, Daniel David Langran was born in a suburb of London, England. Not much is known about Daniel’s early years, except...

It’s Religion, folks. The “R” word that nobody wants to talk about. And it’s what is driving the recent string of unfortunate Supreme Court decisions, and the extreme divisiveness in our society. At best, religion can be a guidepost, a roadmap, a framework for leading a meaningful life; a...

He sat as far back in the café as possible, alone in a remote section, a cup of espresso and a newspaper on the table in front of him. He gave no sign that he noticed us as we approached, his attention wholly focused on his reading. But we...

Dateline: Chicago, 1965. As in so many other parts of America, the windy city had an active music scene, inspired in part by the arrival of the Beatles, the emergence of Bob Dylan, and the popularity of folk musicians such as Joan Baez. Carl Bonafede, a local disc jockey...

Sounds like a new television sitcom, doesn’t it? Or perhaps the latest entry into reality television (hopefully not featuring any Kardashians!). Actually, the latter pretty accurately describes events of this past month, where both Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos of Virgin Galactic and Amazon fame, respectively, blasted off into...

I suspect that the Turkish railway system is much better now, but back in the day, smart travelers used the more reliable bus system to get around Anatolia. There were two daily buses making the 12-hour journey from Bodrum to Istanbul – one left at 7 am, the other...

Everyone knows the fable where the tortoise is slower than the hare, and yet wins the race. How did that happen? I suspect the hare took a path that zigged and then zagged, while the tortoise took the more direct route from start to finish – the hypotenuse, so...

Many of us – kids certainly, but adults too – spend far too much time looking down; down at our cell phones and our computers, that is. So much of our world is compressed into microchips these days. When was the last time you looked up at the stars,...

The first time we went to Paris, Denise ordered escargot. I watched her consume the cousins of those things that slime their way across our driveway; the gastropods that make that sick crunching sound under your dress shoes when you head out in the morning darkness, late for work....

Cleaning ashtrays was not my favorite part of the job. But this was back in the day when everybody smoked – outdoors, indoors, even while shopping – and by closing time those ashtrays were pretty full. They weren’t really ashtrays – more like vertical aluminum cylinders about the size...

Life is a journey without a TripTik®. That might make sense to you if you are old enough, or if you’ve ever been a AAA member. If it doesn’t make sense, let’s just say it is very different from a triptych. But I digress. The salient point is that...

I would love to see the resumé of François de La Chaise d’Aix. If such a document ever existed, it probably would have included tasks such as: teach the gospel of Jesus, minister to the masses, absolve sins, manage acolytes, etc. But no doubt the Jesuit priest’s most important job responsibility...

First the disclaimers: I am a total musical snob. Also, I am almost totally ignorant when it comes to some forms of music, such as classical, jazz, or country (in the latter case, I am purposefully and willfully ignorant. See, I told you I was a snob.) Now, on...

In my pre-marriage, pre-kids days I hung out at Seattle’s Green Lake a lot. One day I was captivated by a small group of people sharing a spinning disc, sending it back and forth, each person attempting some nifty catch, throw, or trick before passing it onwards. Turns out...