Mill Creek Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

I headed for the river last week, as the river never disappoints. A summer that’s passed without at least a quick trip south to the Columbia is a summer wasted, and it turns out... — Updated 7/23/2021

I’m going to refrain from replaying the old joke, and just state for the record that after 16 months of relentless scrolling, I suspect I’ve reached the end of the internet. Thi... — Updated 7/16/2021

I don't really have any cultural bona fides to offer, but I fully support local journalism and I always think it's a grand idea to pass along any literary wisdom that I stumble... — Updated 7/9/2021

I started to walk outside one day last weekend, just to retrieve something I'd left in the car the night before. As I reached for the doorknob, I hesitated. Going outside had... — Updated 7/6/2021

I was out sitting on my daughter’s porch in Texas a few weeks ago, an experience not unlike eating ice cream too fast. It feels really good until it doesn’t, as the joy of... — Updated 7/6/2021

We’ve been putting out little fires for a few weeks, my community of friends, manageable trauma for the post-pandemic era and not unexpected. Some are desperate to hand out... — Updated 7/6/2021

About 10% of us are different from the rest of humanity in a number of ways. Or, to be a little less obscure, there are a variety of conditions or states that occur in human beings... — Updated 7/6/2021

I’ve concluded that over the past year, I’ve deleted far more words than I’ve published or posted. This might make me sound like a very careful writer, someone who measures... — Updated 7/6/2021

I keep thinking about lists, although not at all the modern kind, the click-bait listicles about the 14 ways to spice up your spice rack (number 8 will make you hot). No, I'm... — Updated 6/11/2021

Years ago, at one of the many lifetime achievement ceremonies for famous people of a certain age, Elaine May said something interesting about the honoree, her erstwhile comedy... — Updated 5/28/2021

Once every 17 years, much like the cicadas, my daughter takes a hard look at my hair and decides she can do better. This is my theory, anyway. Even before I headed south to Texas... — Updated 5/20/2021

I went for a walk on Sunday afternoon, temperature in the low 60s with a slight breeze, a wildly unwelcome environment for SARS-CoV-2 transmission. A mask stayed in my pocket,... — Updated 5/6/2021 Full story

I'm guessing that the name of Theodore Parker doesn't ring a bell. This is probably because he delivered an historical sermon in 1853 that history tends to ignore. Parker studied... — Updated 4/30/2021

As we began to shut down a year ago, some of us were talking about our upcoming dystopian hellscape. It was all in good fun, as these things are, and we were mostly chatting about... — Updated 4/9/2021

What have you learned? This is always the question, direct or implicit. It's the theme of every commencement address and more than a few conversations in the principal's office.... — Updated 4/2/2021 Full story

What have you learned? This is always the question, direct or implicit. It’s the theme of every commencement address and more than a few conversations in the principal’s... — Updated 4/1/2021

About 10 years ago, an Irish film buff slipped down a rabbit hole of randomness, discovering a mystery in a DVD extra from a century-old film. It was a Charlie Chaplin movie, and... — Updated 3/25/2021

HED The blessing of having the right one in your corner Chuck’s World Chuck Sigars I first spotted my wife teaching nearly 40 years ago, sneaking a peek through a classroom door.... — Updated 3/19/2021

I have a friend who shares a particular passion of mine, although now it turns out he's just horribly wrong about it. It's funny. I even smiled a little the other day as he offered... — Updated 3/12/2021 Full story

J. Kenji López-Alt is a chef and food writer, the author of the best-selling “The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science,” which was a New York Times bestseller and... — Updated 2/25/2021

Edward Murphy was an aeronautical engineer and an Air Force captain in 1949, stationed at Muroc Air Field in the high desert of Southern California. Two years before, the late... — Updated 2/19/2021

I’ve been getting reminders for a week now, digital nudges from different apps and websites, letting me know that I took a lot of pictures seven years ago. This is in contrast to... — Updated 2/12/2021

I was teasing my wife about getting packages every day, just because she's been on a bit of a roll. It felt like I was constantly bringing her a box or two from the mailbox, or off... — Updated 2/5/2021 Full story

Apparently, I want comfort so badly I’m willing to crawl inside a cliché and pull the covers up, which is to say I started watching “The West Wing” the other night. “TWW... — Updated 1/22/2021

My grandson has been calling me spontaneously lately, something new. We talk once a day regularly, but he doesn't just call me out of the blue. Although a grandpa can wish. But he c... — Updated 1/15/2021