Mukilteo Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

Toward the beginning of COVID time, I made a half-serious joke. A half-joke. It was along the lines of, “I’m eating plain flour tortillas, watching cat videos, and shopping... — Updated 9/23/2020

All of us will occasionally find ourselves standing in the kitchen, wondering why we went in there. In the age of COVID, I’m pretty sure this happens a lot. This has led me to... — Updated 9/14/2020

There is something egalitarian about taking a tumble. I’m sure Queen Elizabeth has fallen a few times in her 94 years, losing a battle with gravity exactly as a commoner would,... — Updated 9/9/2020

My grandson is nearly 7 years old, a remarkable child in many ways, bright and curious, but also very much a normal kid. By which I mean he’s discovered puns, right on time. I’m... — Updated 8/31/2020

I’m missing the Olympics this summer, which could explain why YouTube is showing me videos of runners and jumpers lately, trying to entice me. They always succeed. I usually... — Updated 8/26/2020

We would have stayed home this summer, pandemic or not. It’s what we do in the summers, and we have reasons. And the biggest one is that, after nearly 40 years of living in... — Updated 8/17/2020

“Are you eating M&Ms for breakfast?” my wife asked the other day, although politely. We’re very polite in this household at the moment. It just makes sense to be on our best... — Updated 8/12/2020

Whatever this is, I've been doing it for five months now. And so have you, obviously. While the "same storm, different boats" concept is also obvious, five months is enough time... — Updated 8/3/2020

The calendars are just mocking me now. And they’re everywhere. My computer monitor. My phone, my tablet, my fitness tracker, my car. My microwave. Every appliance in my home, in... — Updated 7/22/2020

Forty years ago, as I walked across a theater parking lot, preparing to see "The Empire Strikes Back" and pretty excited about it, my companion was also pretty excited. Even though... — Updated 7/14/2020

I was wandering around the edges of a luncheon that was winding down, looking for a job to do or else a stray cupcake I could swipe. We were loaded with cupcakes that day. I’m... — Updated 7/8/2020

In the spirit of civil disobedience that has swept over the land, I made an illegal U-turn last weekend. This isn't a metaphor. It's also not an act of rebellion against the... — Updated 6/29/2020

There’s nothing I trust less – a random anecdote, a suspicious Abraham Lincoln quote, Donald Trump – than my own memory. This is so common among my peers that it’s hardly... — Updated 6/24/2020

I have a funny story about Father's Day and this newspaper column, although it's possible I've told it before. It's also possible it's not funny. I'm pretty sure about the holiday.... — Updated 6/15/2020

I’ve been doing some thinking, and the last person I actually hugged before we all locked ourselves in our houses was a linguist. You never know who’s going to be the last one.... — Updated 6/10/2020

I can revisit my childhood anytime I wish, dropping in at a moment's notice, connecting with my earliest memories on a whim. I lived on Google Street, just two clicks from you. That... — Updated 6/3/2020

I was thinking about Vaughn Meader the other day, so my unconscious appears to be totally in charge now. I won't tell you about my dreams. Vaughn Meader was one of the most famous... — Updated 5/27/2020

I finally saw "Contagion," which everyone seemed to be watching about six weeks ago. Or maybe it was six months ago. How long has it been? I've already forgotten the days of the wee... — Updated 5/18/2020

My shorts were right where I left them last fall, rolled up on a bottom shelf. The warm weather had sent me off on a scavenger hunt for comfortable clothes that didn’t resemble... — Updated 5/13/2020

Three things blew my mind before the age of 8. They were dumb things, in retrospect, but let's give the kid a break and the old guy his due. I've been around long enough to see... — Updated 5/5/2020

As we entered what for many of us in this region was our third week stuck at home, I happened to notice that Stephen Sondheim was having a big day. This was back in late March,... — Updated 4/27/2020

Google knows what I'm up to. This shouldn't be a surprise, although I'm always surprised. Of course, any search engine worth its salt will recognize patterns, including (and maybe... — Updated 4/22/2020

I woke up on Easter morning last week, completely unprepared for a miracle. I guess that's a little obvious. Miracles are pretty much always surprises, by definition. I was awake... — Updated 4/16/2020

I like to imagine, 20 years from now, some curious young person, maybe a child, perhaps writing an essay for school, visiting my 81-year-old self with questions about this... — Updated 4/8/2020

When it comes to garden-variety apocalypses, my daughter is the canary in this particular coal mine. She’s been preparing for this her entire life. Not that she’s a prepper, or... — Updated 3/25/2020