Shadowy Grip

No matter where our structures stand, nature’s hand is ready to pull them back.

Finding Wild

No car. No motorcycle. Not even a mule. The mountain doesn’t care. The sun fled the scene like a burglar, tossing back its last rays into the dusk. Cold crept into the mountain’s desert cusp even faster than darkness. Safety … Read More

When the Big Wave Washes Us Away

It was a windy day, like today. As I sit in my sun room and watch gale force winds sweep dead leaves from the trees, I think back to another wind that took a close friend. The grand roster of … Read More

Outhouse Robinson

7th grade art class. My teacher, Bessie Fredericks, asked us to create our own nametags using picture symbols to tell our names. I drew an outhouse (John), a robin (robin) and the sun (son). Bessie was fearsome even when calm. … Read More

Run Aground

Nearing the end of a grueling day at sea, I crawled into a lifeboat to rest, and must’ve lost consciousness, fell asleep near some treacherous shoals. When I awoke, the ocean had flung the boat onto shore. Oh well, they … Read More

Tough Skins

Mountain men  told wild stories to young Kit Carson along the Rio Grande River, stories Kit repeated around campfires to wide-eyed pilgrims on the Santa Fe Trail. This bronze depiction of mountain men in a buffalo skin canoe crashes the … Read More

Rat Stew

A sailing acquaintance reported rats on our sailboat. Significant damage to food containers, sundries and stores. To help make lemonade out of these rat lemons, I share my one-of-a-kind recipe for rat stew: Ingredients: 1 mouse trap 6 oz sharp … Read More

Our Neighbors

We docked near an ocean beach doubling as a nursery. The eggs hatch at night and the turtlings crawl to the sea under cover of darkness. Our guests saw three turtlings early one sunrise, making a daylight run for the … Read More

Storm Front

A violent squall closed in fast, racing us to Everglades Cut.  This was three weeks before the two young men were lost at sea. But it was a similar storm, intense, thrashing. We donned our Mae West life jackets in … Read More