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CHILDHOOD IN EUGENE OREGON
My brief experience of being a Boy Scout.
An effort to save stranded fish had a much larger objective.
A gold miner on the Rogue River of Oregon, had invented a machine.
Retribution comes with loss on both sides.
The combination of pre-adolescent boys and rotten apples can lead to trouble.
Have you ever heard someone say “This tastes like horse-shit.”?…
A story told by a guide to the boy’s at a summer camp, becomes real.
How I bought and lost my first car.
What can happen when underage boys take the car keys.
The importance of school records.
A fifteen year old’s chemistry experiment and its consequences.
A childhood adventure can, many years later, harm your high school girl friend’s father.
What can be done with two gallon jars full of straw and mice?
COLLEGE YEARS
Hitchhiking to Montana in December.
Love of an object, like love of another person, can fade.
Certainly, there were good aspects of living in a fraternity, but the bad ones come to mind.
Making a carrier choice is the result of a painstaking process. Or it can be instantaneous.
A short story about a secret Russian recipe.
Crossing into Mexico was a cultural eye opener.
I went there for work and found a fiesta.
Life changing experiences taken from three months in Mexico.
This story is about child slavery in Mexico.
Crossing the border with a rabbit nearly sent me to jail.
The draft physical calls for getting away.
You’re not a hero if you do what is expected of you.
Constructive criticism is an essential part of all creative endeavors.
The event which gave me my life.
This is a story about a short romance with a painfully abrupt ending.
My friend asked me to join him in an experiment with peyote.
“I am willing to try anything once” I said, and soon regretted it.
Mine was a great dad who left.
LIFE EXPERIENCES AS A YOUNG MAN
The summer after college was spent traveling to find a city in which to start my life.
Good things can happen when we act in contravention of social norms.
Growing marijuana in Manhattan in the 1960s
Timothy Leary’s book store in Manhattan, and the fate of its manager.
Friendliness can not always be trusted.
How to buy as used car for summer travel in Europe, and sell it when done.
This is a short story about harvesting hemp in Kansas.
An extraordinary fourth of July with of electric punch providing the fireworks.
This is a short story about an abandoned house.
Ground nesting wasps tunneled under the children’s swing set.
The loudest bragger is the biggest fool.
What is so mysterious about smoking a thanksgiving turkey?
A story of self-deception.
SOJOURN TO SAUDI ARABIA
A trip to pick up crates at Dammam Port had an unexpected turn.
If you must drive in Saudi Arabia you are advised to carry $2,000 crash cash.
Some Saudi drivers seemed to get a thrill out of beating out other drivers at the light.
There were risks, when driving, which were unique to Saudi Arabia.
Ahmed is an extraordinary man who happened to be my teaching assistant.
Some traditions in Arabia are starkly different from ours in the West.
Wedding traditions are unique in Arabia.
Dealing with childhood diabetes in a developing country is dangerous.
We knew not to eat them, but circumstances forced a different choice.
From the desert a white Toyota pickup approached the huddled women.
Minor surgery on the kitchen table.
There are times when one should not agree to keep a secret.
A story about a fraudulent faculty member.
Panic in a desert cave.
Like many of us expats, Dave enjoyed eating at the small ethnic restaurants in Al Khobar.
This is a short story about Saudi mores regarding private property.
Expatriates find a way around the prohibition of alcohol in Saudi Arabia.
Few are brazen enough to cheat the King.
RETURN TO PORTLAND OREGON
Participation in a clinical trial can be gratifying but painful.
Truly a one man woman.
An influential friend can be helpful. But not always.
An unexpected opportunity with dire consequences.
Trapped on a two story high roof.
Renovation of a blighted urban neighborhood.
“Your building’s on fire!”
One of childhood’s unasked questions is answered.
A slumlord’s side of the story.
A short story of how a rural community became more inclusive.
When your life seems to be under control, is the time when a major piece of it can go bad.
RETIREMENT ON THE NORTH COAST OF OREGON
The foundation for love requires more than intense desire from one side.
Brambles’ second life.
One who lives by a lonely stretch of road and comes to the aid of desperate travelers.
On the North Coast of Oregon we live among herds of elk.
Four octogenarians make a potentially deadly error of judgement.
No place to sleep in a Moroccan village.
A father, me, inquires about his daughter’s new love.
A bus ride indelibly inscribed in my memory.
This trip to Portland began as a routine visit to the doctor.
There are situations when one must do the unthinkable. (A poem)
She sang as she wandered through the woods near our house.
A poem about the fear of covid. (A poem)
A philosophical look at life from a black berry patch.
A hope for love, a poem.
Strange things can happen when you are alone in the forest. (Fiction)
Rats may help me avoid developing Alzheimer’s disease.
The starling is a small black bird with speckles.
A tribute to comfortable old clothes.
A poem about effect of time on memory.
A letter to my daughter about growing old.
Trepidations on a monumentally important election day.