In the first half of the 21st century, students took their education seriously and ran on a hectic schedule. They did not have the luxury of spending their free time playing video games, as their parents had, or protesting wars and bureaucracies, as their grandparents had done. Still, Hillary and Jeff found time to meet […]
Last month in these pages what I did not do, and I’m sorry I did not, was make any reference to the most important event in July, and the most noteworthy national holiday this country has: Independence Day, the Fourth of July. I regret the oversight, and would like to make amends. What brought it […]
“Peaceful Vistas” mural and local artist Roger Cooke will be honored August 8. The Sandy Arts Commission will host a small celebration of the restoration of Roger Cooke’s mural “Peaceful Vistas” on Saturday, August 8, at 10:00 a.m. The event will be held in the parking lot across the street from the mural, at the […]
TO: Dean of Extraterrestrial Studies Galactic University, HomeStar FROM: Agent-in-Place, Planet Earth, North American Continent SUBJECT: Local native customs and rituals: “Independence Day” DATE: July 3, 2019, local time Honored Superior: With some trepidation I forward a report on the so-called “work ethic” of this species. Their social system and attitudes toward what […]
While traveling down the Columbia River on Sunday, November 3, 1805, Captain William Clark wrote in his journal: “The Fog so thick this morning that we could not see a man 50 Steps off, this fog detained us until 10 oClock at which time we Set out, accompanied by our Indian friends who are from […]
August, 1932. Mack Hall’s job had taught him it was lonely at the top. Hall was not the commanding officer of a military operation or the CEO of a large industrial conglomerate. He was the Forest Service lookout on the summit of Mt. Hood, the twelfth man who had held that position since its construction […]
After we buried Grandma in the New Hope Community Church cemetery, my sister Delta and I decided to walk the two miles back to the little crossroads settlement of Peace Valley. It was such a fine day, several of our cousins joined us. Most of them we hadn’t seen in twenty-five years, and some we […]
The boy was nine when his parents parted company. As the oldest of four children, and the only boy, he naturally assumed he would take his father’s place as man of the house, but a little over a year later his mother remarried. He gradually realized he was just one of the kids. He stubbornly […]
We’ve all seen billboards and newspaper ads saying, “Let’s put Christ back into Christmas.” Back in the day, the argument seemed to be that Christmas had become so commercial and sometimes so downright pagan that Christians everywhere ought to concentrate on restoring the holiday to its former spiritual significance. In the last couple of decades, […]
TO: Dean of Extraterrestrial Studies, Galactic University FROM: Undercover Agent, Planet Earth SUBJECT: Native Customs and Rituals Honored Superior: The vast emptiness of space, coupled with technical difficulties and “sunspot” activity affecting dozens of stars between your system and the one I am occupying, have delayed by ten years (this system’s quaint designation for solar […]