You have heard me extol the beauty of the McKenzie River Valley, the route between Sisters and the University of Oregon in Eugene, where Ceili will soon enter her senior year. A long stretch of that scenic corridor has been devastated by a catastrophic wildfire that started last night and was whipped and driven by savage winds until it became a … [Read more...] about The West Is Burning

One of the delights of living in this territory is the connections we have formed with interesting people who do interesting and compelling things with their lives. Hank and Laura Minor have returned to Sisters after a sojourn in the Seneca country of New York, and on Tuesday they invited Ceili and I to join them in a training session with their … [Read more...] about Feeding Dex

Somehow, Marilyn and I have managed to live in Oregon for nearly 27 years and have never visited the state’s only National Park. We unassed that foolishness last Saturday as part of the very fine Father’s Day weekend Ceili put together. Ceili had visited Crater Lake National Park last October on a field trip for an elective geology class. I’m … [Read more...] about ‘Every Bird That Flies’

I don’t care for politics and try to avoid getting caught up in the hurly-burly, especially the mindless tribal monkey dance that passes for political discourse these days. As my guitar-slingin’ buddy Mike Biggers says, “The only kind of partisanship we tolerate in these parts is frontier partisanship.” T-shirts will be issued. However... every … [Read more...] about ’That’s What Makes A Life So Rich‘

It’s been an exceptionally shitty 24 hours. John Prine is dead. The Sisters Rodeo is cancelled in what would have been its 80th year. Oregon schools are shut down, so our local seniors won’t have a graduation or a spring sports season, or school plays and concerts and... you know the drill. Probably sucked where you live, too, cuz that’s the way it … [Read more...] about Not Dead Yet, You Bastards!

* “Dress suitably in short skirts and strong boots, leave your jewels in the bank, and buy a revolver.” — Constance Markievicz, Irish Rebel, c. 1909 * A whole lotta women are deciding to arm themselves. That trend, which has been accelerating for several years, blew up in the Great Gun Rush of 2020 spurred by the COVID-19 shutdown. While it’s … [Read more...] about Women In Arms

THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. — Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, December 23, 1776 * There is something profoundly surreal about the … [Read more...] about The Times That Try Men’s Souls

“A hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue of its bold design.” — Robert Louis Stevenson regarding Arthur’s Seat Ceili ventured north from London this week on a field trip to Edinburgh. A highlight for her was a hike up the looming crag known as Arthur’s Seat, the site of ancient hill forts. In sympathy (and maybe a bit of envy) … [Read more...] about ‘A Mountain In Virtue’

The Pacific Northwest HQ of Frontier Partisans pulled up stakes and headed south for a few days last week to Austin, Texas. Music, Mexican food, barbecue, steak.... Oh, yes, and business. The trip was newspaper-related, but Marilyn stowed away and made the trek with me — and we took the opportunity for a council with the Southern Command under … [Read more...] about Council On The Pedernales