I didn’t keep many childhood trinkets. My interests shift too often for that. But I always held onto my series of Chronicle Tackle-Box Guides by Jim Freeman that he published …

Back in the 1800s, Victorians had a thing for moving nature around. They called it acclimatization—the idea that plants and animals could, and should, be transplanted into new territories. Like …

Sulanharas Creek flows into the eastern end of Shasta Lake. Before the dam, it joined the Pit River and fed into the McCloud River. For thousands of years, the McCloud …

Someone recently joked that my autistic bingo card was nearly full. Trains? Check. Fishing? Check. Mushrooms? Check. All I needed was dinosaurs. But I had to tell them that I …

I’ve always struggled with dense books, especially ones packed with personalities. My brain prefers a clear, focused thread, like how the British cracked Enigma or the science behind raising Rainbow …

Carville by the Sea was a strange and wonderful part of early San Francisco. Retired horse cars and cable cars turned into homes, social clubs, and more. People bought them …

Ancient rhythms sang A sea of blue wings Named for a Persian King With daybreak, wings pulse Lupine’s pleasant companion Never far from surf’s plume Famous to the few who …

In the summer I go fishing at Crissy Field at least once a week and I often think about some of the fascinating history of the field. During WWII the …

I’ve been to enough small county museums around the West to know to look for their barbed wire collection. It’s usually a small board or shadow box with a variety …