The Rubber Band Fight

It was my last night on the air at KEKA as I was being transferred back to Reno. It had been difficult and somewhat sad two-weeks of goodbyes from staff and new friends until that time. One staff member in particular was the hardest person to say goodbye to: Elizabeth Erdman. She was fresh out …

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Wordiness

Night after night I look at news articles that are supposed to be written for radio-broadcasting. And night after night, I find myself editing and re-editing these stories to bring them to the point, without all the extra words. For example, here's a story written by the Associated Press:        "Doctors, nurses and parents of …

No Joke

At one point I supplemented my income by writing jokes for the radio trade publication, "One-on-One" as well as Big Dog Productions, the company owned by comedian Jay Leno. I made fairly good money at this. However it all came to screeching end one early evening when I received a call that proved I was not very …

Helping Andy Macbeth

Andy Macbeth always seemed grumpy anytime I saw him and for a couple of years I saw him a lot. Mr. Macbeth, as he was known to me, had pulled from his barn in the Klamath Glen an antique fire engine.I believe it was a 1912 Ford.It had been stored away for years and needed major repairs …

Structural Differences

One of my very best friends while growing up was Diana. She was a bit of a tomboy, more comfortable in jeans and a western shirt than on picture day when she had to wear a dress. Diana and I used to do all sorts of stuff together, from riding horses to running through the …

Barking at the Moon

It was early morning, after my Senior Prom. I had driven my date, Jill Ziegler home and I decided to stop at Denny’s to have a cup of coffee. While I was there I ran into Bill Combs. He was doing the same thing as me. Bill, being Bill, invited me over to his mother’s …

Jump a Stump

One of the toughest ranch hands was also one of the best preachers I ever met. His name was Wilson and he could cuss, chew tobacco, spit, fight, drink whiskey and play cards with the best of them. But come Sunday morning after breakfast and while the other hands were doing the chores that normally …

A Follow Up

My follow-up appointment at the VA was today. My blood-sugar level is actually well within the normal range, so it's safe to say I don't have diabetes. Phew! However there remains some concern about high blood pressure and an elevated cholesterol level. But since I have changed my diet, started walking a little more and …

Armistist Day

Even though I had lost my license to drive a government vehicle, I was not prevented from working aboard an ambulance or taking the extra seat on a helicopter when there was a need for an extra set of medical hands. It was a bother to the Captain though, who was constantly on the lookout for …

Steeples

In 2005, Mary, Kyle and I took a short weekend vacation to northern California. Down the road by about an hour from where we were staying is the original site of the first Russian settlement in California, known as Fort Ross. The fort, though reconstructed, is strong reminder about how tough explorers, fur traders, soldiers and …

Babysitter

Every time Mom and Dad turned around, Adam and I were in trouble. We were either pick a fight with one another, our sisters or some kid in the neighborhood. So when most kids were allowed to look after themselves, we were under the care of a babysitter. It was embarrassing and we were teased by …

The Golden Jock Strap Award

It was a surprise the Del Norte High School boys track team had voted on and appointed me to complete. The surprise was an award for our head coach, Brian Ferguson. Called, “The Golden Jock Strap award,” it took me a few days to figure out how to shape and stiffen an actual jock-strap. I …

The Twelfth Step

"This is your room,” the woman said to me as she turned the key and pushed open the door. It was a very elegant room.  The bed had a dark and high headboard. The covers were layered with quilts to help keep out the chill of the Humboldt County nights. The lace of the curtains …

Price

It was a harsher sounding knock at the door than usual. And as usual all four of my dogs went crazy. Turns out it was our not-so-friendly mail carrier with a certified letter. I immediately thought, “Well, this can’t be good.” Once signed for, I opened it and found myself holding a subpoena for the …

Commercial Effect

The six of us had jus’ finished one of Mom’s fantastic spaghetti meals. And we were all sitting around the table contemplating what sort of desert Mom might surprise us with. Without warning Marcy, our youngest sister, started rubbing her belly as if she’s were so full she couldn’t dare think of eating anything else. …

First Names

We were visiting Mom and Del for the weekend. It would be a quick trip since the bride and I had to be back to work on Tuesday. It was spur of the moment trip so it was a nice surprise that we were able to bring Kyle along with us. He was living with …

Rigor Mortis

"Let’s quickly load him and get out of here,” Barney said to me. We were standing knee keep in a Wyoming snow field easing the dead and frozen body onto the stretcher. Our breaths came quickly like puffs of smoke, which hung in the air momentarily, but rapidly, fell to earth as it froze. I worked quietly, …

My Job

It had been hanging in the front foyer of our home for as long as I could remember. I was surprised to see that Mom had left it behind when she decided to move her and my siblings to Fortuna following her and Dad’s divorce. Finding the house empty was a shock. I had no …

Getting a Head

It was the start of the weekend and many of us decided to head over to the NCO club.  As I understand, somewhere around midnight a couple of the guy's decided to drag me away from the bar and "escort" me home. I don't remember this as I was pretty tight. When I woke up …

Hollywood Style

The idea of getting on a horse’s from behind is stuff seen only in movies; planting both hands on the animal’s rump, spring up and into the saddle. It’s the favorite horse mounting technique of folks like Tom Mix, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers. Having enjoyed their movies throughout the years, and having had access …

Accessory

It was hard to hear, as the judge rapped his gavel on his bench as sentenced Adam to state prison. He had been found guilty of shooting a man so he and another guy to harvest his pot field. We knew he was going to have to serve time since being arrested for this late …

The Reanimation of Samuel Hardy

It was the final weekend of the summer and Billy and Paul pointed their BMX bicycles westward down the old dirt road and the best place to do some high jumps and hard landings in the area. They pedaled to the abandoned Toano rock quarry in an effort to forget school was to start the …

One Threatening Call

It was jus' another overnight shift at country radio station KIIQ, but that quickly changed. I answered the studio line and was told by the male voice on the other end that he had me in his sights at that moment. Being a smart-aleck, I asked, "What sort of weapon is your sight affixed too?" …

Letter Perfect

It’s obvious I bit off more than I could chew emotionally. My day started with a little research project by looking through a box of old letters from 1979 to mid-1980. What I found there left me hurt. I think it’s safe to share this as anyone who knew me when I was 19-20 years …

Punked

It was jus' before the concert in our parking lot was scheduled to start. I was working for country music station KHIT. My request line flashed in the studio. And as I had always done, I pushed record on the reel-to-reel tape machine as I answered the telephone. On the phone was a voice I recognized right …

Waning into the Weird

Not even two-minutes into my shift and I got one of those telephone calls every reporter has to weary about. It was a man claiming he had been at an accident, trying and save a life, but was unsuccessful. His information seemed credible enough. He said he was on his way from Burning Man and …

Returned

We had been in our new home a little more than a year and I felt it was becoming cluttered and in need of some mid-Fall cleaning. I decided to start in the back bedroom that we used as a sort of office. After filling two garbage cans and a large plastic bag, I felt I was …

Grudge

What is it that our pit bull terrier has against me? In the time that we’ve had her, she has chewed on or swallowed or destroyed several items of mine. The latest in this long line is my favorite hat; a gray Stetson Tuscarora felt topper. I left it sitting on my old kack, jus’ …

Broken Glass

Yesterday didn't end until I laid my head on my pillow at eight this morning. In fact I had jus' laid down when the telephone rang. I've learned that when the phone sounds off in the earliest hours of the morning, it's never some guy saying he's trying to find my home because he has …

The Scrapbook

"Looking through this old scrapbook," Charlie said, "sure brings back memories." He was sitting in the middle of the room with a large box at his side. Coming through the door was his wife, Maggie, carrying two cups of coffee as Charlie flipped through page after page of old photographs. Suddenly he paused and smiled. …