Conor’s Song
I wrote this early in the pre-dawn morning of September 10, 1989. Two days before I had gotten up and gone to work, and late that evening we were about to go to bed when Karen’s water broke and we … Continue reading Conor’s Song
Author: Mark Eifler
Evening Kayaking
An August evening, a couple of years ago. I was kayaking at sunset on Lake Cushman, and the waters of the lake reflected the sky’s changing colors. For maybe half an hour I paddled into and through the sunset. Continue reading Evening Kayaking
Winter at the Oregon Coast
Winter storms barreling in from the Pacific strike the rocks and sands of Oregon, December through March, as if trying to blast them into oblivion. But between storms, as the weather seems to be gathering its breath for another blow, … Continue reading Winter at the Oregon Coast
Just Snow
What is there to say? Portland is closed down with a snow storm, we are settled down for the afternoon. I will not leave this up long, just a few days, perhaps. Nothing professional or fancy. Just snow. Sometimes, that’s … Continue reading Just Snow
Mid-Winter Drive
Bleak mid-winter, snow coming in. Life seems black and white and gray. Seems, of course, is the operative word. Continue reading Mid-Winter Drive
Hot Iced Coffee
It made no sense. Pulling quickly into a drive thru, I ordered an iced mocha. “Do you want that hot?” I was asked. No, iced. “Yeah, but do you want that hot?” I wasn’t sure how to respond. More interestingly, … Continue reading Hot Iced Coffee
Sky Country
Driving through Central Oregon several years ago, an open landscape, a dramatic sky. Away from the coast, the Willamette Valley, the Columbia Gorge, up in the higher country. Few people, few cars, . . . and many thoughts. What a … Continue reading Sky Country
Multnomah Falls Hike
Though it is dreary mid-winter now, it is good to remember that spring and summer will be here again soon. These photos come from a hike with my son on Father’s Day, eight years ago, when everything was fresh, bright, … Continue reading Multnomah Falls Hike
Morning Coffee
Mid-October: After nearly a week of high wind, we awoke on the last day of our trip to a perfect calm. Pouring a cup of coffee to warm up the chill, I walked down to the lakeshore, and found the … Continue reading Morning Coffee
A Nervous Friend
I was walking into the rental cabin at Lake Cushman when I heard an insistent barking in the trees above me. Apparently I had disturbed a chipmunk in his foraging. I got my camera and managed to get this picture. … Continue reading A Nervous Friend
Home Star
I wrote this short story in the fall of 1984, while I was a student at UC Berkeley, studying the American West and Native American history. I sent it to AIM Magazine, and they published it in their Spring, 1985 … Continue reading Home Star
Chasing an Idea
January 14, 2014: Sitting in a film studio in Studio City, with the largest green screen I have ever seen behind me, a mic is clipped to the lapel of my jacket. The lights and reflectors are so bright in … Continue reading Chasing an Idea
Sticky post
The Letters
Recently I was given a collection of letters written by a surgeon in the Civil War to digitalize. The hundreds of letters were written on good paper, and usually marked by ink or more often pencil from the field. A … Continue reading The Letters
“Londonderry!”
This morning I went down for breakfast. We were a couple of minutes early, so I saw an elderly woman by herself and said hello, and she started up a conversation. Everybody else went to breakfast, but we were talking … Continue reading “Londonderry!”
Irish Invaders
The Long Coach comes up the coast, pulls in to the edge of town, but cannot navigate the narrow streets. No matter. The tourists scramble out, wearing backpacks, dragging wheeled suitcases, and in ones and twos spaced out and eyeing … Continue reading Irish Invaders
How to Live in Kinsale
Get up early for breakfast. Have some french press coffee, then a bowl of porridge–steel cut, nutty and rich, with a shot of Bailey’s Irish Cream over it. Maybe a fresh scone with blueberries and raspberries. Go on a tour … Continue reading How to Live in Kinsale
Stories on the Land
Anthropologists believe that one of the critical elements that make us human is our penchant for seeing stories everywhere. Essentially, we seek patterns around us. Originally it was seeing where game and gather-able foods were, and that certain activities would … Continue reading Stories on the Land
My World of Words
As a writer and professor, I live in a world of words. I read them voraciously, proclaim them in class, grade them on papers, use them to argue points in committee meetings. In fact, we all live in worlds like … Continue reading My World of Words
A Pocket Handkerchief
In “The Hobbit,” J.R.R. Tolkien added a clever insight when Bilbo has just left with the dwarves for his adventure. Wait, he calls, I forgot my pocket handkerchief–we”ll have to go back to get it! The dwarves chuckle, throw him … Continue reading A Pocket Handkerchief
Wist Blog: Creative Scribbles 