Patricia Marcus Whitman Hotel, a Walla Walla landmark. Fifty years ago: two men walked on the moon’s surface. The musical phenomenon of Woodstock rocked the nation. The war in Vietnam continued. I graduated from high school along with 500 classmates. Some of us eagerly anticipated college, some wondered whether they’d be called up for the draft, …
Mad Creek Trail through the grasses. We live at the crease of the Front Range, where the Colorado Eastern Plains meet the Southern Rocky Mountains of Central Colorado and Southeastern Wyoming, elevation approximately 5,400’. The Boulder Flatirons and Flagstaff Mountain fill our southern-facing sightline from our living room (with the famous Boulder smoke stack looming …
Pre-race with the glorious New Mexico sun and clear skies. I don’t remember exactly when I decided to try to qualify for the National Senior Games. I hadn’t heard of them when I was first eligible to compete (age 50) but then, I still had my younger son, Alex, at home. The logistics are a …
I ran for many years, then Doug started running, occasionally, we run together. Boulder 2015 Our first trip together was the result of a wrong turn: we planned to visit Apple Hill on the way to South Lake Tahoe but ended up at the north shore of the lake, more than fifty miles from our …
Sprinting to the finish line of Big Sur International Marathon 11-miler Count them: five Big Sur International Marathon running events during the past almost twenty years: I walked the twenty-one miler in the early 2000s, ran the 10.6-miler and the nine-miler courses (no longer events), and participated in the 11-miler twice, most recently on …
Dear Friends: after almost five years as a Facebook user, I have decided to no longer participate in this social media forum. I began using FB as a tool to market my two books (“First Friends: Love, Loss and Life in Humboldt County”, and “Smart Jocks, Long Talks and Pink Socks, the Story of Coach …
First doctor’s appointment three days post-surgery. He confirmed that the metal plate that was inserted during surgery for 2017 arm break had caused ruptured tendon. While unusual for new plates to cause tears, because my break was so bad, the original surgeon had to insert plate close to my wrist, subsequent bending of wrist over …
A brief thumb update: thankfully a friend suggested I seek a second opinion on my ruptured tendon, given how critical that opposable thumb is. I was referred to the UC Health (Denver) Orthopedic Hand department, with a reputation for excellence. Although this extra step extended the overall process to move forward with the tendon repair, …
The right hand thumb, straight and unbending. One of the things that distinguishes us as humans is our thumb: its flexibility in movement and opposable to our other fingers allows us to do such incredible things. Two weeks ago my right thumb, seemingly without any memorable injury or action, stopped working. I could not bend …
My father and my younger son, c. 1988 The telephone call came early one evening this spring. I was home alone, savoring the quiet as dusk fell. I almost didn’t pick up the phone. Too often intrusive telemarketers interrupt this hour. Then I noticed my parents’ ten-digit number, the first one I ever memorized. “Just …