UP THERE WITH OTHER SPORTING FEUDS like Giants versus Dodgers, Red Sox versus Yankees, and Ali versus Frazier, was the annual Ridgway versus Johnsonburg varsity football game when I was in Pennsylvania high school, a far different place and time. The Ridgway-’Burg Game was historically the final game of the season, and the competitive loyal […]
A Different Drummer: Egged on
I HEAR TWO FAMILIAR REMARKS from readers I meet on the street. One is “Hey, Steve, I like your childhood stories best.” Another is a question. “Do you have any stories you’ve never told because you were a teacher?” Here’s a story I’ve been sitting on for 30 years that will entertain both. Ridgway is […]
A Different Drummer: Reclining thoughts
CAN YOU DIG INFINITY? If you ask most people if they know what infinity is, they will say, “Yes.” On the surface infinity is easy to figure out. It simply means something that goes on and on without end. Even a small child can grasp the general concept of the infinite. However, when you get […]
A Different Drummer: He’s doing what?
SO, EXACTLY WHERE AM I, and precisely what am I doing? Funny you should ask because I was going to tell you anyhow. I’m teaching. It’s currently Thursday morning and I’m sitting in a Stevenson Hall computer lab at SSU an hour early so I could begin this column before the stampede of 25 kids […]
A Different Drummer: Around the Bend
WHERE HAS OREGON? I don’t know, Alaska. What did Tennessee? She saw what Arkansas. What did Mississip? She sipped a Minnesota. What did Delaware? She wore her brand New Jersey. And so on. We took a family vacation to Bend, Oregon and I’m here to tell you all about it. There is no plot, no […]
A Different Drummer: Needed: Greater independence
OUR DAY OF INDEPENDENCE IS OVER. For many of us, we are currently dependent on aspirin, aloe vera, some quiet time, and perhaps a bloody Mary. Unlike other holidays, Independence Day traditionally involves a lot of potentially illegal activities. No firecrackers allowed, no bottle rockets, no Roman candles. Public picnic intoxication and driving to and […]
A Different Drummer: Urge to purge
I AM HAPPIER AT THE DUMP THAN I AM AT THE MALL. I get more joy out of tossing things out than I do from shopping. It’s amazing the amount of downsizing I have done in the last month. I’m calling it the Great Purge of 2015. There’s a scene in “Moby Dick” that comes […]
A Different Drummer: Dear retirement diary …
“THE BEST-LAID SCHEMES O’ MICE AN’ MEN gang aft agley.” I thought you were all about feet up, eyes closed, and mind free to roam. So far my retirement has been a buzz of activity, far flung from my best efforts to find peace and nothingness. Who am I? Do I know myself? I’m so […]
A Different Drummer: Burden of dreams
I HAD A NIGHTMARE LAST NIGHT. I dreamt I was propelled into the future 20 years and took a drive across America, except that it was now called America Inc. I was driving a gas-powered SUV that got 12 miles to the gallon. Someone had killed the electric car. Four-wheel drive was the only way […]
A Different Drummer: First retired weekend
HELLO. I AM A RETIRED SCHOOL TEACHER. I hung up my red pen as of Friday. This is my first weekend as a free agent. I guess the term “weekend” is now passé as Tuesday is as good as Saturday. I began this weekly column 30 years ago when I started teaching here in Benicia. […]