Author Archives: Gavin Stevens

About Gavin Stevens

Humptulips County is the wholly fictional on-line residence of Stephen Ellis, a would-be writer, an avid fan of William Faulkner and his Yoknapatawpha County, and a retired lawyer.

Of Little Girls and Perfect Days

Posted on November 20, 2013 by Gavin Stevens

Spades take up leaves No better than spoons, And bags full of leaves Are light as balloons. Robert Frost, Gathering Leaves Violins of Autumn sobbing Deep and lone, Pierced my heart is with their throbbing Monotone. Fierce and quick the breath, … Continue reading →

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Dreaming of Books, Old Ladies, and Cows

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Gavin Stevens

I have always loved books, both for their content and for their form.  The same is true of my wife, Helen.  As a consequence, the Farm is home to far more volumes than sanity might suggest is prudent.  Most of them are plain and … Continue reading →

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The Glory of a Rural Mailbox

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Gavin Stevens

The nights are getting cold, almost cold enough for frost to grace our mornings.  There was a proto-frost, an almost-icing, on our fields yesterday morning when I walked down to get the newspapers and mail.  The air was clean and the light exceedingly … Continue reading →

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Foggy Days and Foggy Nights

Posted on October 26, 2013 by Gavin Stevens

“Fog everywhere.  Fog up the river where it flows among green aits and meadows; fog down the river, where it roils defiled among the tiers of shipping, and the waterside pollutions of a great (and dirty) city.  Fog on the … Continue reading →

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The Morning Of Our Discontent

Posted on October 17, 2013 by Gavin Stevens

Last night our nation’s Congress finally passed a bill to extend our debt ceiling and to fund our government, relieving it from the shutdown forced by a wholly dysfunctional, irrational Congress – a shutdown costing our economy an estimated $24,000,000,000.  There was … Continue reading →

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Running The Molecular Relay

Posted on October 10, 2013 by Gavin Stevens

It has been several days since my sister-in-law, Mary, passed away last weekend after months of fighting the cancer that brought her down.  Her fight was epic, but the cancer prevailed as it had too great a head start by the time it … Continue reading →

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A Climatic War Zone

Posted on September 30, 2013 by Gavin Stevens

The arrival of fall has turned Humptulips County into a climatic war zone.  Even as I write I can hear thunder in the distance and rain is falling regularly as it has been for the last three days.  This is … Continue reading →

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Autumnal Pas de Deux

Posted on September 23, 2013 by Gavin Stevens

Autumn arrived precisely on schedule this year in Humptulips County.  For once, the calendar and the weather decided to dance a pas de deux and the day of the autumnal equinox coincided with declining temperatures and the first rains of fall.  You can always … Continue reading →

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A Harebrained Proposal?

Posted on September 14, 2013 by Gavin Stevens

“People should be allowed to pursue their happiness in the competitive market. But it makes no sense to require people to compete in the market for basic goods. Those who lack such goods have little chance of winning them in … Continue reading →

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Letters! We get letters!

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Gavin Stevens

I’ve just finished reading The Selected Letters of Wallace Stegner (Page Stegner, Ed.) and have begun reading The Selected Letters of Willa Cather (Andrew Jewell and Janis Stout, Eds.).  I have several other collections of letters – those of J. R. R. … Continue reading →

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