On my office desk at work there’s a tiny wooden box, open at the top, containing 13 “Forever” postage stamps, three safety pins, a ring I found, a single spacer for laying tile, a dime and a penny. There’s also a spare clicker – a duplicate of the one mounted in my truck – that […]
Westside Story – The Inventor – Part I
Have you ever asked yourself why Ben Sclair does not publish Westside Story articles more frequently? Let me try to explain the cause of the inordinate lulls between Westside Story columns. It is not Ben’s fault. A rock-solid reason that sounds fairly impressive is that I have engulfed myself in a whirlwind cycle of high […]
Across the Fence: A Time to Write
Have you made your annual Christmas card list already? Don’t think it’s too early for that; because if you are crafting yours and if some of them go overseas, you want to be ahead of the postal cut-off date. But I’m also talking of a different kind writing. Another long winter season lies ahead in […]
Juicy Crowd Drawer in Steilacoom
Last Sunday morning started off with a thick layer of fog after a rosy dawn. That is usually good foreboding for a brilliant fall day here in the South Puget Sound region, and the Steilacoom Historical Museum Association couldn’t have wished for better. For it was hosting the Annual Apple Squeeze for the 46th time. […]
Westside Story – It's Only An Urge
It’s Only An Urge. Boyle urges China to investigate the Trumps Joe Biden thinks Joe Boyle is funny! Credits and thanks: (1) Mrs. B. for photography and photo pre-production to make this attempt at humor possible. (2) Jimmy Howe for purchasing one of President Donald Trump’s old red ties at the Trump family moving sale […]
Letter: One year ago, today
It’s the call you never want to get. It’s what happens to other people, that is, until your phone rings. Grief like a grave with both ends kicked out stretches on and on. And on. Sometimes it’s a medical prognosis that confirms our worst fear; an unjust accusation that is most difficult to bear. We […]
CenterStage Hound of the Baskervilles Review
Although CenterStage Theatre is actually in Federal Way you wouldn’t guess it from tour drive on Sunday afternoon. After driving around the Port of Tacoma and following Marine View Drive to Brown’s Point and though the lovely fall foliage we parked at the theater on Dumas Bay. After the play we walked around the park-like […]
Letter: The power of darkness – one thing led to another
As it turned out it was a very, very small thing – in the beginning anyway – but it had created a very frustrating problem. Nearly half the house was in darkness. The other half was cheery bright. To bring power to the darkness, extension cords plugged into extension cords which were plugged into lamps, […]
Across the Fence: Apple Squeeze
Would you know what day it is, this upcoming Sunday? Yes, October 6, right. It’s also German-American Day, celebrating the first German settlers arriving from Krefeld in the United States in 1683; they founded Germantown, PA, and organized the first petition in the English colonies in 1688 to abolish slavery. But this year it’s also […]