Get Out

  Sometimes there are things in our lives that we pass by so often we forget just how special they are. Over the years my family has made the long drive down to the Bay Area enough that we have reduced the trip to a series of bathroom stops with a refueling in Willits. The […]

  I am not an adrenaline junkie.  If the idea of hurling yourself through icy waves under gray skies appeals to you, then you’re lucky to live in an area where you can kayak year round. All you need is the right gear (dry suit, booties, gloves) and a bad attitude, and you can paddle […]

What is it about fire lookouts that gives them such an aura of romanticism? The isolation? The simplicity? Gary Snyder, who spent a couple of summers as a fire spotter high above the upper Skagit River in the North Cascades, celebrated the ascetic nature of the lookout: “fewer the artifacts, less the words           slowly […]

I am a fair weather athlete. The longer days and returning sunshine have dramatically improved my attitude about training. Even on rainy days I keep my shorts and running shoes close by, ready to put in a few miles during a cloud break. I registered for a half marathon at the end of September, so […]

Yes, this weekend is Oysterfest — the biggest event on the Humboldt calendar. But as someone who’s choked down large quantities of slimy bivalves in his day (*fifth place finisher in last year’s Shuck and Swallow Contest, thank you), I can confirm that too much of a good thing, well, it can leave you slightly […]

“Tide pools contain mysterious worlds, where all the beauty of the sea is subtly suggested and portrayed in miniature.”  — Rachel Carson Thanks to the summer solstice and the full moon, the sea will reveal often-hidden secrets in early June, with a string of nine “minus tides” that include the lowest tides of the year. […]

  For most of the year, I seem to be oblivious to the power of flowers to brighten up a room or a relationship. Just ask my wife, Amy. But for a couple of months, about the time winter limps on toward the southern hemisphere and spring begins to assert herself (yes, I do think […]

Are you a gardener, casual or otherwise? Planning a vegetable garden or maybe thinking about planting a few flowers now that spring has sprung? If so, the Humboldt Seed and Plant Exchange is the place to be this Saturday. A dedicated volunteer group of local sustainable agriculture enthusiasts now known as the Humboldt Permaculture Guild […]

  Kayaking is just as much about soundscape as it is about landscape. There is the rhythmic splashing of the paddle, of course, soothing and calming your mind. Then other sounds: waves, birds landing on the water or taking off en masse, fish jumping, boats passing by. The sounds travel and diffuse differently depending on […]