“A dream of life comes to me, like a catfish dancing on the end of the line.” – Bruce Springsteen I’ve never caught a fish larger than my four fingers, whereas my wife caught pollock after pollock after pollock years ago when I bought her a day fishing trip near Pt. Defiance for her birthday. […]
To Ponder
Across the Fence: Volkswagen and Fahrvergnügen
You probably have watched one or the other car advertisement on television, willy-nilly. Such as this one: Therefore, you might be familiar with the two American-English Germanisms, Volkswagen (pronounce ‘fawlx-vu-gn, meaning people’s car) and its slogan “Fahrvergnügen” (pronounce far—vah-gnoo-gn, meaning joy of driving). Did you know that Germans abbreviate Volkswagen as VW (pronounce fow-vay)? And […]
In the Book Nook with … D.L. Gardner
Author D.L. Gardner is retired and lives in the Port Orchard/Olalla area in Washington State. She has written all her life but was first published in 2011. Of her many awards the most recent were the Wishing Shelf Book Award for her audio book “An Unconventional Mr. Peadlebody,” The B.R. A. G. Award for “Rise […]
Letter: When We’re Lost
What had begun as a crystal clear early morning with stars twinkling in the still dark sky, and as red and white bow lights flashed on the other rowing shells moved silently on the dark surface of the water, the morning dissolved into a thick and impenetrable fog. And what had begun so idealistically, romantically, […]
Across the Fence: Blitz
Do you like thunderstorms? I always used to like them, especially their approach. The dark cloud masses accumulating until they are darkening the entire sky, the sudden silence of Nature, the first sheet lightning, rumbling thunder somewhere in the distance, and then the first “real” lightning, a Blitz. This Germanism has made it into the […]
Letter: A Lesson from the Autumn Leaves
My favorite season of the year to row is Autumn. Sometimes with others, most often alone. Boat traffic on the lake is minimal; the trees along the shoreline are resplendent in color; not a sound is heard but the rhythmic splash of the oars and my labored breathing; and eventually the green-become-red and yellow leaves […]
Letter: We Rowed Together
For most people, no doubt the vast majority, World River Day, the fourth Sunday of every September, passed by as unnoticed as the headwaters of a quiet stream slipped by in a forest no one was frequenting anyway. But what a metaphor for life. Did my grandson want to watch from the dock as I […]
Pots Amid Spans of Time Tell Us About Our Past
I’ve always been interested in the past. When Peg and I traveled with friends to Italy and Spain a number of years ago, we visited several places in Italy. We felt like we were always seeing elements that were hundreds, if not thousands of years in the past. In Spain, I even got my wish […]
Letter: Taking Shelter
It rained this past March 31. I remember because it was the day we laid my wife to rest. We huddled together at the graveside. In part because of the rain. In part to be close. The tears fell like the gentle shower that gathered in pools atop the canopy and spilled over the edge. […]