Two Gents' Worth
October 4, 2026
Civil Society
Sharon and I flew up to Seattle this past weekend to say good-bye to our daughter Amy, son-in-law Steve, and their dog Filbert. They were about to leave the United States and jet to Copenhagen to live. Steve’s sister Kathy and brother-in-law Neil threw a going-away party for them on Mercer Island in Lake Washington…
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Civil Society
As you may recall, Sharon and I headed to Carmel on California’s Central Coast this past weekend to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary in the same charming inn where we had spent our honeymoon night. It was our first trip back to the Tickle Pink Inn since that long-ago night on July 5, 1975, and…
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Civil Society
Sharon and I are heading over to a charming little place called the Tickle Pink Inn in Carmel on the California coast this coming weekend. It’s been quite a while since we’ve been there. In fact, it’s been exactly a half-century. You see, we spent our honeymoon night at the Tickle Pink on July 5,…
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Editor’s note: Over the years on this site, I’ve written several pieces about my childhood summers, growing up in Fresno in the heart of the great San Joaquin Valley. This is one of my favorites. It makes me smile, and I hope you will get pleasure out of it, as well. ** Those lazy, hazy,…
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Civil Society
There were plenty of proud and happy people in Madera County this past Sunday. They were proud and happy because our Museum in the Old Courthouse on Yosemite Avenue in Madera had officially been named “Best Museum in Central California” in an annual contest run by the Fresno Bee. It was an incredible achievement because…
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Civil Society
It was a gorgeous late-spring morning this past Monday when I drove into the Sierra to join fellow members of the North Fork History Group on another one of our field trips. This time, our destination was John Blossom’s 50-plus acre mountain spread a few miles above North Fork. John and his wife bought the…
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Civil Society
My lifelong buddy Kopi and I strolled back into history on Saturday. Our history. We grew up on Arthur Avenue in Fresno. Our houses were less than a block apart. Kopi is two years older, so he was two grades ahead at Fremont Elementary, Hamilton Jr. High and Fresno High. We used to play all…
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Civil Society
The other day, I was listening to one of our Sirius channels in the car when they played one of my favorite songs from the 70’s — “Saturday in the Park” by the group Chicago. As soon as it started, I remembered many of the lyrics. “Saturday, in the park, I think it was the…
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Civil Society
Amy and Steve got married this past Saturday, in a wonderful ceremony that was as original as it was inspirational and emotional. It took place in the Bay Area of California — in the San Mateo hills backyard of one of Steve’s longtime friends. And that friend — Jeff Jonker — not only hosted the…
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