Category Archives: Igneous Range
Soundtrack
The Mamas and the Papas — California Dreamin’ Dolly Parton — Jolene Simon and Garfunkel — The Boxer Tom Waits — Blow Wind Blow Buck Owens & Dw. Yoakam — Streets of Bakersfield The Beatles — Rain R.E.M. — King of Birds Buck Owens — I’ve Got a Tiger by the Tail Michael Maxwell — [...]
Husbandry
When far Japan and so many of her people were finally incinerated, the camp was finally cleared and dismantled. All the crews left of it were the cemetery and the foundations of the barracks. The orphanage was closed down and all the orphans were scattered, for the orphanages in San Francisco and Los Angeles had [...]
In the Yard
Prison did have its privileges. Frankie hadn’t been incarcerated for more than a week when he was pleasantly surprised to discover that many of the other prisoners liked to play baseball. When Frankie saw some prisoners constructing a baseball diamond, he watched their progress from a discrete distance. When the games began, he stood nearby [...]
The Orchard
Later that year, the Japanese Empire attacked an American naval base in the Pacific, and many Americans were killed. Before that dark day, Japanese Americans had rarely been trusted or treated fairly, but after the attack, Japanese Americans were suspected to be enemies of the United States. Thus it came to pass that Frankie and [...]
The Orphanage
One day in spring 1941, just after Frankie had turned eight, he came home to find that neither of his parents was in or around the house. That was not an uncommon occurrence, but after a while of waiting and wondering, he began to worry. After a couple hours, a patrol car drove up to [...]
Prologue
Hundred degrees in the shade here at Sportsman’s Park. Martin leading from second after his eighteenth steal of the season. Frisch at the plate, two-and-two is the count. Frisch facing the mighty southpaw Hubbell from the right side. Bill Terry’s New Yorkers are ahead of the Redbirds by a run here in the sixth. The [...]
Exit
Armen burned through a cigarette in his dream. There was much noise outside the door. Knocks and shouts about evacuation. Cars starting. Sirens. Distant explosions. Trucks roaring by. A motorcycle decelerating nearby. A knock. “Armen? You in there?” It was Sue, he realized. The realization nearly failed to stir him, but he woke enough to [...]
Reports
The storm moved onto the land. She planted fires here and there, and both sides of the gorge were soon alive with flame, and the exhalations of the inferno filled the air. The fire chewed away groves, consumed the village of Foresta as though its name were Fuel, and bore down on El Portal as [...]
A-Rock
It was going to be more than just another hot August day in Merced Canyon. Armen sensed something familiar in the air. He couldn’t figure whether it was good or bad, but it was irresistible. There’s something about a scent that reaches deep into us; deeper than ordinary consciousness—deeper than memory. There is something immediate [...]
Void Where Prohibited
Working in Yosemite’s primary wastewater treatment lab meant collecting and testing water from different stages in the treatment process. It also meant collecting and testing the water up and downstream from the plant, and also meant testing water from collection points throughout the region. All this reminded Armen that the Range was a water supply [...]