Vaughn Elementary School has a new principal, Abbie Barabe (pronounced “bear-a-bee”), with an extensive background in the field of elementary education. After earning her … more

Sometime in 1987, I think, I accidentally got to hear Toni Morrison read at a private gathering. I was a neophyte assistant at a large publisher in New York City. A sympathetic editor had offered … more

Washington is for beer lovers. The state produces more hops — an integral ingredient for brewing beer — than any state, with well over four times as much acreage in hop production than … more

The best thing about sailing, as far as I’m concerned, is that when you do it right it’s really boring. more

Coyotes are singing on the peninsula. They wake me in the wee hours. My mind needs a good minute or two to figure out if the eerie sounds more

“A Journal of the Plague Year,” Daniel Defoe’s short book about the 1665 outbreak in London of what is believed to have been bubonic plague, is never a comforting read; it is even less so in these times of a global pandemic. more