I only did this once. On a lonely west Texas highway, where the flat boredom is punctuated by a battle between oil wells and windmills, we came upon a left lane hog in a nondescript sedan with heavily tinted windows. … Read More
Meet de Boys on the Battlefront
The dancing spirit of Big Chief Jolly inspires nephews named Neville, and the Wild Tchopitoulas mix with the Meters and Toussaint, Norman Bell and Booker T. Washington, Flag Boy and Spy Boy and the ghosts of Professor Longhair and Dr. … Read More
A winter float to the Irish Wilderness
The Eleven Point River was running full and fast. From Greer Access, floating downriver through Stair Step Hole, whistling past Graveyard Hollow, I crossed Mary Decker Shoal, passed Hurricane Creek, the Turner Mill wheel and Stinking Pond, rounded Horseshoe Bend, … Read More
Hillbillies, Hay Bellies and Hostess Twinkies
It was a dream. A nightmare. When I was a kid, I don’t remember seeing any over-sized hillbillies. Hill folk worked hard to squeeze a living from rocky soil. They were rugged, independent, self-sustaining people. Skinny, mostly, but healthy. They … Read More
Science Quiz
Ever look up to watch a hippopotamus swim? Or stand between diving penguins and puffins? On a delightful Saturday morning, the St. Louis Zoo proved again why a recent survey called it America’s favorite zoo. The experience invigorates the senses. … Read More
Crossing the Lexicon
“…ours is a mongrel language,” Mark Twain said about the world’s most expansive tool kit, “which started with a child’s vocabulary of 300 words and now consists of 225,000; the whole lot, with the exception of the original and legitimate … Read More
Back Door Branson
It bothered him like a gnat, the red dot on his chest. He knew it wasn’t a rash because the dot danced in a tight circle on the outside of his grimy wife-beater undershirt. He tried a few times to … Read More
Dan “Coach Hoags” Hogan
“I’ll come see you if I can make it.” I knew what he meant. Dan was battling serious illness and the Grand Referee had granted him limited precious overtime. I didn’t expect to see him. But he showed up, game … Read More
Good Water Gone Bad
It’s the greatest water park in the world. A summer afternoon at Johnson’s Shut-Ins will make you forget about manmade water parks. That’s because it pushes humans through some of the most hair-raising chutes a body can stand without drowning. … Read More