He does not come disguised as Brenda Starr’s Black Orchid man, appearing suddenly in the elevator into which I step. He does not come...

1. If  the Venus of Willendorf Is Packin’ I went to a Drop In’s Welcome salon in Reno the other day and the gal doing hair had some kinda...

1. L’esprit de l’escalier And there I am at the top of the stair hoping  to leave  the scene with the perfect bon mot. Home in bed  I...

See this snapshot of an aluminum lawn chair. Notice how the late evening light dignifies plastic chairs or rusted cars, even the carcass...

I wish you had seen the waif in  her hand-me-down Elsa gown, arms wide, singing “Let It Go.” She knew the words, this petite chanteuse,...

Motes of light grace an apron fold. Garments illuminate a face contemplative and secretive. With lapis lazuli and yellow paint, Vermeer...

There's always someone with an Affliction you can't mention Because he's in denial. "Cats!" Why are we talking about cats? There's always...

A badged man waves paper over my hands. I ask what he wants to find. "Traces of explosives," the man explains. "Wow!" I remark to my...

You leave this place quite sure you won’t return before another year has come and gone. You know that in the interim you’ll learn of...

I doubt you would like this place. Blue light on crusted snow, sage drained of chlorophyll, grey sky mirrored in the pond. You say, "The...

Suppose the Pope were in an Oldsmobile on Interstate 80 driving over the Sierras as snow becomes slush and the whoosh of eighteen...

The Great Chain of Being begins with God ends with dirt. Beetles rank below the pretty insects like ladybugs and dragonflies and behind...

After snowmelt, the earth percolates shards of glass, flattened, lidless cans, ​or, protruding from  mud, the torso of a porcelain doll....

“A pack of wolves has killed at least three calves since Thursday night in eastern Baker County… seven others were either injured or...

1. High country springtime Muddy trucks on rutted roads Daffodils in snow. 2. Dirt road rooster dust One who loves you is in sight...

Each spring I bring a string of Tibetan prayer flags to Tuscarora. At winter’s end, they are faded and frayed, which tells you something...

When the person sitting next to you speaks or you feel the  urge to communicate. You talk over the racket  of airplane brakes. It’s that...

I think of Harry, the loneliest person I know, who spends solitary winter days in his single wide. In summers he drives over the Sierras...

Fernley on ramp Enter Interstate 80 and head east These are the exits you didn’t take: Nightingale Jessup Toulon Oreana Rye Patch Dam...

Even though no sani-seat covers in the regular stall in the ladies room at the Standard Station in Lovelock, a town where lovers lock...