Lost! Again! Glints of sunlight streaked the trail and the old-growth trees on either side stood as silent as snow. As I wandered deeper and deeper into the forest along tiny threadlike paths, surrounded by more sorrel than I’d ever seen in my life, I felt as if I was in a fairy tale and […]
Life + Outdoors
Posted inField Notes
Pullet Surprise: Fun with Mondegreens
I suspect everyone has their favorite “mondegreen,” a misheard word or phrase which is usually more fun than the original. For instance, check my title against that annual journalism and literature award. The word mondegreen was coined by Sylvia Wright in a 1954 Harper’s Magazine essay. As a child, Wright had misheard a line from the […]
Posted inGet Out
Corkscrew Trees and a Crooked Trail
Perfect weather on Aug. 1 and a desire to be among the first to walk the newly opened Crooked Trail brought my wife and me to the adjacent and newly open-to-the-public ‘O Rew Redwoods Gateway — a 125-acre Yurok Tribe-owned and managed preserve just north of Orick. The new entry gate read, “Welcome to ‘O […]
Posted inField Notes
An Etruscan Venus and the Patriarchy
“Patriarchy has tried to erase imagery of the feminine since time immemorial. Destroy the image and you can control the narrative.” — Syreeta McFadden, The Guardian U.S., April 13, 2015 Almost life-sized, the “Venus of Cannicella” looks out at us from behind her protective transparent cylinder in an archeological museum in the town of Orvieto, […]
Posted inGet Out, Life + Outdoors
Coming Together for Obon
A large crowd showed up under lightly smokey skies from wildfires on Sunday afternoon at Arcata’s Creamery District to celebrate Obon. The Japanese Buddhist festival honoring the spirits of one’s ancestors is a recent tradition in Humboldt, having begun locally in 2022. After opening shakuhachi (Japanese flute) music by Rick Kruse, emcee Marylyn Paik-Nicely welcomed […]
Posted inGet Out
My Very Own Sit Spot
I’m lying on a bench underneath an arbor, looking up at the wisteria on the trellis. Sun peeks through the cracks of the bench. I sit up and look at the tree to my left, my eyes following the fractal beauty of the branches, watching how they replicate themselves in ever-smaller degrees of scale. I’m […]
Posted inGet Out
Annie and Mary and Ladies and Crows
The Mad River Old Crows (aka the Old Crows), a Blue Lake men’s group/social club “with no hierarchy, agenda or rules,” emerged on the scene 13 years ago to enjoy each other’s company and to donate their skills, money and energy to community projects. In recognition of their many contributions, the Blue Lake Chamber of […]
Posted inField Notes
Revisiting the Whorf Hypothesis, Part 2
“The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis says that if you immerse yourself in another language, you can rewire your brain.” — Jeremy Renner’s character in Arrival Last week, I discussed the strong and weak versions of the Whorf Hypothesis. The former claims that one’s native language determines our worldview, to the point where we’re unable to think thoughts not […]
Posted inGet Out
Best of Crabs Season 2026
The 82nd Humboldt Crabs season is in the book, and as the sun sets on another amazing summer, it is time to give out my annual team awards as part of the Best of Humboldt issue. The Crabbies gave fans one last week to show up and cheer for their boys, going undefeated, highlighted by […]
Posted inField Notes
Revisiting the Whorf Hypothesis, Part 1
“The Hopi language is seen to contain no words, grammatical forms, construction or expressions that refer directly to what we call ‘time,’ or to past, present or future.”— Benjamin Lee Whorf Early in this column’s existence, I took a rather superficial look at what’s come to be known as the Whorf Hypothesis (“The Whorf Hypothesis,” […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
In the News: Mobley sentencing, toxic algae, the Crabs and mollusk noir
Thanks for reading and have a great week. In the News Culture Life & Outdoors
Posted inWashed Up
Mollusk Noir
On weekends, I front a punk band called the Dead Cousteaus. On weekdays, I’m a private investigator. So, on Monday morning, I was in my office nursing a bottle hoping to ease out of my weekend, but the shadow of a stacked broad crossed my desk. She smelled of mollusks and trouble. The “stacked” part […]