Two Gents' Worth
June 13, 2026
Bud Elliott — one of the San Joaquin Valley’s longest-tenured television news anchors — passed away in the early morning hours of Tuesday, Nov. 18. He was 76. Mr. Elliott — whose name adorns this blogsite — had courageously battled Parkinson’s disease for more than a decade. That disease had forced him to retire from…
Read More about Mr. Elliott PassesI’m only guessing, of course, but I bet if my dad had been alive, he would have enjoyed coming with me this past Thursday when I drove out of Fresno and up into the Sierra mountains in eastern Madera County. After all, my first stop was in North Fork, where Dad and Mom (right) had…
Read More about A Trip for DadAs I was out walking Jessie the Dog this past Sunday evening in our neighborhood, I saw something I had not seen in many years — kids playing wiffle ball in the street. There were four of them, and they looked as if they were in late junior high or early high school. School was…
Read More about Summer’s Last Hurrah
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…
Read More about Seattle Sojourn
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…
Read More about Weekend in Carmel
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,…
Read More about 50, Yes, 50!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,…
Read More about Those Lazy, Hazy…
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…
Read More about Saturdays in My Life
What can you say about someone who is about to reach the age of 75? More to the point, what can I say about reaching that considerable age – which I am, according to my Arizona Highways calendar, going to do this coming Sunday, March 16? Well, for starters, I could do the math. On…
Read More about Reaching 75
I’ve lived in the San Joaquin Valley practically my whole life. The Sierra Nevada range is within easy driving distance, and, indeed, I’ve been to the mountains countless times. But I regret to say, there are still many places up there that I’ve never been to. You see, I’m a typical “flatlander.” Mountain folks love…
Read More about Up to Central Camp