Left-overs are either something you eat because you already paid for them or they are an opportunity to lift a meal up to a new level of enjoyment. We had some left-over lamb kabobs from a lunch at It’s Greek to Me in Tacoma. A taco is an easy fix for many left-overs. It is […]
To Ponder
Off-Leash Dog Parks
Having a dog, means taking responsibility for your pet. They need to go on regular walks. Dogs are very social. They love to interact with humans and other dogs. They like to explore and exercise. Let them run around on their own in your back yard just doesn’t make it. “Proper exercise is an important […]
The Last Soup of Winter
My favorite soups . . . While traveling to Spain with friends a few years ago, Peg and I had the most wonderful melon gazpacho in Barcelona. The cantaloupe puree with a touch of chicken broth and perfectly pan-fried scallops live on in my mind. One of these days we’ll have to make our own […]
Westside Story – Backwards Dessert & Pie For Breakfast
About 3:00a in the morning last night I woke up in a cold sweat and could not get back to sleep. I have known for some time that my trouble sleeping was being caused by an overwhelming buildup of guilt festering inside me. You see I have two secrets I have kept to myself for […]
Across the Fence: A tower inspires
What does my hometown, Stuttgart (Germany), have in common with Seattle, WA? A landmark. The one in Seattle has long since been competed with by skyscrapers springing up seemingly overnight, these days only clearly visible from the sea. The one in Stuttgart can be seen for miles on end. I’m talking of the Seattle Space […]
Letter: The light in the lighthouse is there for a reason
She was tall, slender, an attractive blond, her hair shoulder length, well dressed. Then she happened to turn around. The left side of her face was brutally blue, and black, the purplish swellings no doubt once having closed off any ability to see diminishing, but still, a once pretty face didn’t, perhaps couldn’t, smile, it […]
Old Stories, Lost Connections, and Disappearing Opportunities
The week before my father died, he told stories I had never heard before. He told about families in turmoil from the great depression and he mentioned as a Lt.J.G. watching from the bridge as torpedoes ran silently toward his oil tanker in the South Pacific during World War II. He told me about renting […]
Westside Story – No Story, No Title
It did happen, so it stands to reason, it did not happen. If my title line and the first paragraph of today’s column has you confused, please read further to achieve a relaxing sense of clarity. I have been sharing my particular style for arranging the 26 letters of our alphabet on the printed page […]
Self-Reliance and Solving Problems
I was sitting in the emergency room at Tacoma General reading an article by Joanna Nesbit about raising children to be problem solvers*. Her high school son had gone to study with a friend. She didn’t realize until later that the friend lived more than twenty-five miles away. She was amazed that he carried a […]