Clint jumped off his horse and fairly loped down to the creek, reaching down into the shallow and chill waters. He harvested his prize and lifted the dripping trophy overhead, his weather-worn and 60 something face happy with excitement. “Watercress!” he exclaimed. He returned to us, his 4 horseback companions, as he mounted up and […]
Hat Creek Stand Off
Sweat dripped from the inside brim of the Sheriff’s hat, leaving tracks on his dust-caked forehead just before it stung his unblinking eyes. They were fixated on the pair of black-holed shotgun barrels aimed at him from close range. He was grateful that the gelding horse under him stood stock still after the long ride […]
The Dawn Of Redwoods On Alderspring
In spite of the wave of violent destruction that tore through his country in the summer of 1941, Mr. T. Kan, a Chinese forestry professional, reflected in quiet awe as he gazed at the great coniferous tree next to the village temple in Modaoqi, a tiny hamlet in the Eastern Sichuan province of China. The […]
Where Alderspring Meets Orca
Over the last 30 days, the killer whale (orca) known as Granny cruised silently in the shallow ocean waters along the spring swollen mouth of the mighty Columbia River at the border of Washington and Oregon. Granny is believed to be over 100 years old, and every year, she and others return to this exact […]
The Most Dangerous Ranch Hand
A soft wool blanket of low clouds and wispy bands of fog lay over the ranch in the early light this morning. In the dim gray of predawn, I met our head of ranch security on the way to my ranch office, the old bunkhouse. It was Jackie, a.k.a. White Dog, the Great Pyrenees that […]
If a Tree Falls in the Forest…
It started with what sounded like the resounding crack of a high powered rifle as the base of the tree snapped to pieces like kindling. I didn’t get to see which way the tree was going to fall because the sound of it breaking was enough to send my horse in a wild and blind […]