Definitely not the reason flags are at half. Although I'd say he better deserved it given his celebration, through his work, of the human condition in general and American in particular. The Candidate, Jeremiah Johnson, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Who ARE those guys?!) and my personal favour...

Out in the savage wilderness of Lost River we noticed a marked decrease in the number of hummers this year. Guess that wall on the Mexican border is pretty effective.

Three years ago, fires. Two years ago, bears. Last year, yellowjackets. This year, flies. Six more plagues to go.

Roles Reversed Dept: Couple of weeks ago on a Saturday coming back to Lost River (Motto: Where The Only Law Is Fang And Claw") from the store I came up a rise and around a curve to find 4 obviously non-local cyclists riding abreast going same direction as myself. Even with me going below speed limit...

Curious. How is the staffing/funding for fire fighting crews and logistical support (Federal, state, local, anything, etc) for the inevitable fires this year? Only a question of when, not if, fires will happen and wondering if all the wonderful and skilled personnel, having honed their expertise ove...

LB, you need help harvesting ganja? 1) Have I died and gone to heaven? 2) Can I bring some boomer friends from Capitol Hill in Seattle? Semi-serious.

Compared to previous years very few in Lost River last year and so far this year as well. Quite notable and commented on out here in the savage wilderness. Same with bears.

bt, have written/will write but these are different times and profiles in courage (or even self-interest sometimes) are - er....um....- somewhat scarce in a certain party. I truly and sincerely hope I am being too pessimistic. Danny Westneat has a good column in today's Seattle Times touching on this.

Slade, that would be us in Lost River. Sorry.

Judy, out here in Lost River we'd consider all that attention a full social calendar, get down the corn jug, invite the other 5 droolin' neighbours over and put the callers on speaker. Consider yourself lucky to be so popular and beloved.