The cycling schedule is full again. So are the rivers around here, swollen with snowmelt from the mountains, and roaring. Here's some of what I saw on a ride this afternoon, a section of the Yakima roaring along muddy and almost into the fields and towns. In the upper center, you see an enormous tree that the force of the water tore out of the bank somewhere upstream. Fifty yards from the river, all was serene. The view is west, toward the Cascades, where in spring the snow becomes water that … [Read more...]

The veteran writer and broadcaster Ted Panken has joined the burgeoning community of folks who blog about jazz. His weblog is called Today Is The Question. I have added it to the blogroll in the right-hand column. If you want to be sure Ted knows what he’s blogging about before you punch him up, read this first. It comes from pianist George Colligan’s jazztruth, whose address also goes into the blogroll. It’s getting crowded down there. You can’t blame anyone for wanting to get into so lucrative … [Read more...]