Greetings from Anacortes, Washington, where Beth’s doing some book-related promotion, we’re visiting with Beth’s sister Cheryl and her husband Rich, we’re breathing pristine air, we’re eating fresh seafood, and I’m consuming some beautiful views. There’s a ton to say about the San Juan Islands and Anacortes, Skagit County…but I’m too tired. I paddled a three-hour […]

This ball was on Challenger that fateful day. Flown by Ellison Onizuka for his daughter, a soccer player @Clear_LakeHS. #NASARemembers pic.twitter.com/grShwq372X — Shane Kimbrough (@astro_kimbrough) February 3, 2017 Astronaut Kimbrough tweeted a photo of the soccer ball that made it into space. On the morning of Tuesday, January 28, 1986, I headed to my barber […]

In the age of “fake news,” ultra partisan publications and broadcast channels, and nutjob websites, we—for the time being, anyway—enjoy a pretty robust press. It’s really easy to dump on “the media,” but that’s painting with too broad a brush. Good journalism and good writing are hard work. A lot harder (and generally, more time-consuming […]

Beth wrote about my sinus surgery last week—first, thanks for your thoughtful comments. They cheered me as I breathed through my mouth in pain-reliever land. Second, this surgery went a lot better than it did 21 years ago. (Still, I don’t ever want to do it again.) Third, my Wednesday surgery was the most mundane […]

The last time Mike had out-patient surgery, he called the hospital ahead of time to explain that his wife was blind and would accompany him to a cab to get him home afterwards. That was eight years ago, when I was still working with Hanni, my second Seeing Eye dog. The staff member who answered […]