GEORGE’S TALES OF THE WOODS   LION HUNTING IN THE SIERRA NEVADA     Her name was Vendla.  Vendla Kivi Ajo.  Try saying it: Ven-d-la Kee-vee-ah-ho.  The Vendla has a little lift to it, and the Kivi Aho rolls off the tongue. Vendla Kivi Ajo! What a pleasure to speak it.  It’s […]

    EQUITATION “Fork the horse, Lieutenant, fork the horse!” the Colonel kept shouting. “Fork the horse.” Of course this brought out subdued laughter from the Marine 2nd Lieutenants in the Reserve Officers Class on this summer day in 1942.  We had just graduated from Officer Candidates Class in Quantico,Virginia and were going into other […]

  SING FOR AMERICA I am embarking on a new adventure, only for a short period, but still with some trepidation.  Checking my e-mail last November, I received a message from General Mike Myatt of the Marines’ Memorial Club.  He said that an Erich Stratmann, a singer who has often performed at the club, was […]

   THE TULE FOG I was standing on the gravel driveway that separated the house from the pasture; if you could call it a pasture.  Leaning against the wooden fence, I peered out through the dense, dreary fog at the lone cow slowly moving her head over the ground, as if she was finding something […]

  Sidewalk dining has become very popular and pleasant, weather permitting, and my friend and I are about to have some lunch.  Please join us – it’s on me. Click here if you’re hungry THE LUNCH         “This table O.K. with you, Bruce?” asked Will as he set down the little statue holding […]

  MUSIC SCHOOL Do your children like to sing?  Do they wake you up in the morning singing?  Do you have to tell them, “Be quiet and eat your breakfast”?  Do they enjoy beating out rhythms on drums, tunes on xylophone, playing the recorder, the flute?  And do they pick out tunes on the piano? […]

THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS  I have never been much concerned about sinning.  I have never been religious, but am, what I consider to be, a reasonable person, a somewhat responsible citizen.  I have never been struck by God’s Wrath, or lightning; never been in jail; never been sued; I’ve voted every fall; and never needed […]

Click here to read story OBLIVION She said “I’m going to take a walk before dinner.” “Wait.” I spoke up. “I’ll go with you. Let me change my shoes first.” We walked along familiar streets in the neighborhood, she setting the pace and me struggling to keep up. The sun was getting low, but it […]

MY DAY – YESTERDAY Click here to read story It was Tuesday. Tuesday is egg day, as is Saturday, but let’s stick with Tuesday. Cari also plays doubles tennis on Tuesday mornings at Washington Park at 8:30. I had dressed in casual clothes, gone out and picked up the Chronicle, which I now call the […]

  GEORGE’S TALES OF THE WOODS In January , 2008 I was surfing the web looking for information on a sawmill named Pino Grande located some forty miles east of Auburn, California in the Sierra Nevada. To my delight I found a story by a John Barnhill telling about looking for old railroad bridges in […]