The last few months have been a time of great transition. Betsy Robinson and I have essentially finished work on the 10th Anniversary issue (Nov/Dec). Ten years! And when that issue gets to subscribers, I’ll be turning 50 (Oh my!) And that begs the question: What will the next 10 years look like?  Read More »

I gave a short speech to a gathering of state and federal agencies on July 16, 2008, at the celebration of  a dam removal in Oregon. This site on the Rogue River is near my home. In this video, I share some of the background history of the Gold Hill area, leading up to breaching the Gold Hill diversion dam for the benefit of future generations of both people and salmon in a beautiful stretch of the Rogue River.  Read More »

About ten days ago my rowing partner Andy and I put our pair (two-person racing shell) on top of his truck and drove to Lake Natoma, near Sacramento, CA, to race at perhaps the best rowing course in the country. Our goal was to practice on a real race course marked with buoys (we have no lanes here in Oregon) and to compete against the Sacramento State Crew. This would be our first race against college kids and we were extremely nervous. Sac State is a Division II college program -- not as fast as Yale or UC Berkeley, let alone the Olympic team, but they are fast and young.  Read More »

I spent the last few minutes hovered over the white porcelain thrown, losing what little was left of lunch, feeling oddly triumphant. It’s been some time since I stopped mid-workout to throw up. I feared maybe I had learned something. But no! I remain in no danger of enlightenment. I can still fail to warm up properly, still throw my body against the machine at a pace that would have taxed me decades ago, and I can race coughing and sputtering to spew.  Read More »