Opinion

I’m sure I have told you, probably more than once, how happy I am to live in Gonzales. The people here are just a little nicer than any other town I have ever lived in. I’m sure you agree that you can’t really run...

There’s something about being an author that is very addictive. Sometimes you can be midway through the tedious proofing of a manuscript — most writers’ least favorite thing — and already be working on the plot for the next book. Sometimes — as is the...

I suppose that today I should write something about how messed up our government is, but I think that would be too easy. There is no use in restating my thoughts about how miserable it is being run right now. If you read anything...

“It must first be said that with increased residential and agricultural use and improved water management, flood concern is not what it was a few decades back.” Regarding the above statement, if I can be forgiven for using baseball metaphors at the height of football...

How are you doing? I mean, do you still wear your mask? Did you seriously see that the doctor that goes on TV wants us to wear three? The past few days are almost historic. Some folks from the surrounding areas of what we...

I don’t know how the whole thing began, but it happened on Thanksgiving Day of 1969. My friend Dennis was a motorcycle rider, and for one reason or other I was going to ride one of his smaller bikes from Point A to Point...

The last time at the hotel, there were young Asian girls next to us wearing facemasks in the elevator. We thought they were a bit strange. Little did we know that the world was on the cusp of the largest, strangest pandemic in our...

You know, living in the Salinas Valley is a pretty cool place to live. Except for the rain we have been enjoying lately, it is very much like the valley I grew up in. Well, maybe not as cool. In the summer we could...

It goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway, that December is normally a very busy month with myriad holiday-themed events, which if not well navigated can lead to a bit of stress; psychologists will support that statement. Like most of us, I seek...

I had to do it, the time had come, so I walked stoutly to the middle of the Oak Avenue overcrossing and stepped over the rail, took a long look around me at my hometown of Greenfield, California, then jumped to the dirt below. That...