In the summer of 1966, I was 18 years old, a recent high school graduate, and had just been hired by the U.S Forest Service to work as a fire fighter for the summer. I knew next to nothing about
Why I Am the Way I Am—-Part I
I got to thinking the other day about how where I have lived in my lifetime has determined—well determined why I am the way I am. Recalling the places I have called home (even for just a short time) brought
Hello, Hello, Damn It, Hello?
I guess that there is no bigger sign that you are a true GEEZER than when someone in the now (use your own definition of “now”) generation sees you pull out your flip phone and make a call. A few
Stumbled Across My 50-year Old High School Yearbook
The other day when looking through an assortment of cardboard boxes in my garage (I was looking for some family information to trace my heritage [more on that in a later blog]), I found my high school yearbook from my
THE BUFFALO WAS A GOOD CHOICE
Hail Our New National Mammal Just recently, President Obama signed a law making the bison our country’s first national mammal. The buffalo (I never called them “bison”) isn’t in competition with the bald eagle because the eagle already has national
A Letter from my Dad
It took me a lifetime to understand my dad (at least as much as I could). Now all these years after he died, I have come to see where the man he became was pretty much determined early in his
Nostalgia: Glacier National Park Wildfire
Hearing that a major wildfire, the Reynolds Creek Fire, started burning along the Going-to-the-Sun Highway in Glacier National Park on July 21, brought back a rush of memories of my early days as a fire-fighter. At over 3,000 acres, the
The Dogs Who Have Owned Me—Part I
A few months, well, make that nearly a year ago, we got our most recent dog Sam. Now Sam is the dog who came down with parvo a week after we took him from the animal shelter and then
I Lost a Friend Today
A friend of mine died today. No, my best friend died today and part of me died with him. I could write this and that about him; he was a fine person, he loved life, he was kind to dogs.
Dave’s Philosophy: No Way, Not Today
The other day, I was trying to take a nap, but when I saw a spider crawling on the ceiling directly above me and it got me to thinking. What if the spider lost its grip, tumbled through the air,