Category Archives: ‘Tis a Puzzlement

An Apology To Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson

Posted on March 25, 2022 by Gavin Stevens

Your Honor: For the record, I am an elderly white man now retired from the active practice of law. As an older white man, I would like to apologize for all white men, young or old, who refuse to recognize … Continue reading →

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Rearview Mirrors

Posted on June 26, 2021 by Gavin Stevens

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2021 Stephen EllisSome Rights ReservedOriginal content here is published under these license terms: X License Type:Non-commercial, Attribution, no Derivative workLicense Abstract:You may copy this content, and re-publish it in unmodified form for non-commercial purposes, provided you include an overt attribution to the author(s). You … Continue reading →

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The Immensity of Shrinking Horizons

Posted on May 7, 2020 by Gavin Stevens

When I was a boy growing up in an isolated valley in eastern Washington in the days before the Internet, I was restless despite the vastness of the sky I lived under. Even though the horizons were far away, I … Continue reading →

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Waiting For The First Snowfall

Posted on December 4, 2016 by Gavin Stevens

Snow falls: years of anger following hours that float idly down — the blizzard drifts its weight deeper and deeper for three days or sixty years, eh?  Then the sun!  a clutter of yellow and blue flakes — Hairy looking … Continue reading →

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The Freedom Not To Listen

Posted on November 5, 2016 by Gavin Stevens

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government … Continue reading →

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Friends To The Last

Posted on July 5, 2016 by Gavin Stevens

Her name was Pudders.  Why, I don’t know.  It is a terrible name to inflict upon a self-respecting cat, but we got her as a rescue cat when she was about five and she’d already been named.  It wasn’t in our hearts to … Continue reading →

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Pesky Crows

Posted on June 26, 2016 by Gavin Stevens

Every time I interact with crows, I come away with the same conclusion: they have an alert intelligence and try hard to communicate across species about things that are important to them.  Unfortunately, I don’t speak their language. I walked to our mailbox … Continue reading →

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Man and His Obsessions

Posted on June 13, 2016 by Gavin Stevens

Mankind has an obsession with order, so much so that we insist upon trying to impose our notion of order upon nature even while we know that time dooms each attempt we make, and we will need to try again, and again.  In our zealous dedication to this cause, we seem no different from the ants … Continue reading →

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Pastures As Art

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Gavin Stevens

There is something mesmerizing about open pastures, perhaps their malleability as an artistic medium. At any time of year, unmown pastures are rough, green canvases painted with oils variously applied; thickened knots of lush grass growing in hollows or well fertilized areas appear to have been rendered by palette … Continue reading →

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The Uncertain Rhythms of February, 2016

Posted on February 28, 2016 by Gavin Stevens

1             To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2             a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that … Continue reading →

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