The Church of the Open Road Press

Narratives about motorcycling on Northern California's back roads; Reflections on the history and geography of the North State; Memoirs and early recollections of youthful visits to towns and forests and mountaintops. Also middle-of-the-road takes on current issues in politics and education. Middle of the road? Isn't that dangerous?

Sunday, January 31, 2010

A Hole in the Sky - Spenceville Road

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THE WHOLE POINT OF UPGRADING to the big Beemer GS model is typified by what happened Saturday. Ten days of rain seems like ten weeks in cen...

1 comment:

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

A Break in the Rain

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NINE DAYS AND NIGHTS OF RAIN – just 31 short of needing to retrieve the old cubit stick and start construction on a big boat. On the tenth ...

3 comments:

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Ten Questions Regarding the Pot Debate

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I do not smoke pot. Full disclosure: Thirty years ago, I had a couple experiences with the stuff – peer pressure – and something inside tol...

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Friday, January 22, 2010

Flirting with the Drug War

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A FEW MONTHS AGO, I ventured into rural and rugged western Sierra County, exploring roads that were scribed on a map – skinny, wiggly roads ...

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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Winter View of Clementine

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[January 2002] THE SOUND WAS OF THE BREEZE blowing through bare winter trees – only much louder. Like a huge, distant orchestra shrouded by...

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Sunday, January 17, 2010

Believe-ment

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THE JOURNEY, like faith, it is within you. Sometimes inaccessible, but never more than a fingertip’s reach away. THE JOURNEY is assuaged ...

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Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Up I-80

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GLOBAL WARMING, evil bastard. January 11th. Arguably the dead of winter. I am rocketing up I-80 at breakneck speed, hoping to inhale some ...

Monday, January 4, 2010

Along the Miner's Ravine Bike Route

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THERE’S A BICYCLE PATH running from near our house to downtown. Given that I just procured my first pair of pants with a 38” waist – up fro...

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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

January 1, 1960

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The 1960s (which admittedly started in 1961) saw, in part: • The interstate highway system; • The introduction of the first production sport...

Monday, December 28, 2009

New Years Eve 1959

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MAN IT WAS COLD THAT NIGHT! But there I stood, bare-foot on the curving red cement walk that led to a front door we never used. The night ...

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About Me

Bumpa: Maps. Some of the best stories one encounters one encounters by reading a map. A map is the framework - the outline - upon which both history and fantasy are crafted. Just as two people can witness an event and come up with entirely different recollections - each completely true, verifiable and accurate - two people can travel the same mapped route and come up with entirely different stories. But without the map, perhaps they'd have no story to tell. Some of the best anthologies in my library are stuffed in my map case.

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