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Essays, Short StoriesLeave a comment

Conor’s Song

February 24, 2014February 24, 2014 Mark Eifler

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

PhotographyLeave a comment

Evening Kayaking

February 23, 2014March 3, 2014 Mark Eifler

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

PhotographyLeave a comment

Winter at the Oregon Coast

February 18, 2014February 23, 2014 Mark Eifler

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

PhotographyLeave a comment

Just Snow

February 8, 2014February 18, 2014 Mark Eifler

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

PhotographyLeave a comment

Mid-Winter Drive

February 8, 2014 Mark Eifler

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

Short StoriesLeave a comment

Hot Iced Coffee

February 5, 2014February 5, 2014 Mark Eifler

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

PhotographyLeave a comment

Sky Country

February 5, 2014February 8, 2014 Mark Eifler

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

PhotographyLeave a comment

Multnomah Falls Hike

January 31, 2014February 5, 2014 Mark Eifler

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

PhotographyLeave a comment

Morning Coffee

January 25, 2014 Mark Eifler

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

PhotographyLeave a comment

A Nervous Friend

January 23, 2014January 31, 2014 Mark Eifler

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

Short StoriesLeave a comment

Home Star

January 22, 2014January 25, 2014 Mark Eifler

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

Essays, Looking at HistoryLeave a comment

Chasing an Idea

January 14, 2014January 24, 2023 Mark Eifler

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

EssaysLeave a comment
Sticky post

The Letters

August 17, 2013January 28, 2023 Mark Eifler

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

2013, Essays, On the RoadLeave a comment

“Londonderry!”

July 11, 2013January 22, 2014 Mark Eifler

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!”

2013, Essays, On the RoadLeave a comment

Irish Invaders

July 3, 2013December 15, 2013 Mark Eifler

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

2013, Essays, On the RoadLeave a comment

How to Live in Kinsale

July 3, 2013December 15, 2013 Mark Eifler

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

2013, Essays, On the RoadLeave a comment

Stories on the Land

June 30, 2013December 15, 2013 Mark Eifler

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

2013, Essays, On the RoadLeave a comment

My World of Words

May 20, 2013December 21, 2013 Mark Eifler

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

2013, Essays, On the RoadLeave a comment

A Pocket Handkerchief

May 19, 2013December 21, 2013 Mark Eifler

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

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