Writing Samples
Taking bets on snowfall
Leaves. Is that what those are?
It’s Friday morning and I’m staring at the Bonanza’s laminated kitchen countertop, which, I’ve never noticed before, is patterned to look like decaying fall leaves.
I guess as a photographer I should have noticed something like that a year and a half ago when I first set foot in this place. … [Click headline above to read more]
Jen Schmidt - Courtesy North Lake Tahoe Bonanza
Climb aboard
I have never touched a surfboard in my life. Or to be more correct, had never touched a surfboard in my life, until Monday morning when I was climbing aboard a 11 1/2-footer, with the owner of Adrift Tahoe Marcus Tingle at my side supplying words of encouragement. … [Click headline above to read more]
I once was lost but now have found the piano
Imagine, if you will, a little boy alone in the dark. Hands balled tight into fists because the sensation of touch hurts desperately, mouth closed tight because it is too sensitive for food, ears covered with those balled fists because even gentle raindrops sound like gunfire. … [Click headline above to read more]
Hit the road, Jack 
Vacations. What’s better than hopping a plane or train or hitting the road to a place where the mountains and water stretch to meet the horizon? Or sitting on a warm beach in the sun, hiking or just taking a break from answering the 50 e-mails an hour you receive.
But luggage can be lost and planes arrive late. Airports are crowded and people are pushy. Passports are stolen and children whine incessantly.
So this summer buy a few gallons and take a drive around the lake — appropriately named “The Most Beautiful Drive in America.” … [Click headline above to read more]
Incline Lake’s telescope moves to UNR
As a crane hoisted the last piece of the Celestron 22 telescope’s base off the rooftop Tuesday afternoon, the MacLean family was milling excitedly on the ground below.
Amid the crowd of cameras and video recorders, the press and children, talk of the instrument, its past and future, floated among onlookers. … [Click headline above to read more]