Author Archives: kihm
Blueberry
October 6, 2000 I never thought I would bond with a bird, but I did, and now I’m paying the price. Blueberry, our parakeet, died last night and the house seems terribly quiet. For 12 years, he was a good friend and an active part of the household. He greeted us when we uncovered his […]
Falcon Park
A late summer discovery, and don’t I feel like an idiot for waiting all this time, was Doubledays baseball over in Auburn. We caught the last game of the season, and can’t wait for next Spring. Falcon Park, its players and fans are everything baseball should be. Parking is free! Every seat is a good […]
Brewing Competitions
In the early days of brewing, the judging of beer was largely confined to casual conversations. To have drunk various beers in the places where they were made was to a man’s credit, and his tales were welcomed by those less informed, as well as those who leaped at a chance to tell of their […]
Travel Letters
Excerpts from my travel letters :: Bermuda, 1977 :: My girlfriend made the arrangements; all I had to do was get on the plane. She even arranged for mopeds. Because I had never been on a moped, I drove it up and down the parking lot, just to be sure I could stay upright, and […]
Boom Boom Mex Mex
The next time I get married, I’m registering at Boom Boom Mex Mex. Forget the china, the silver, the crystal; I want tacos. And maybe another t-shirt, because they have great t-shirts; I have seven. But I’m getting ahead of myself. A long, long time ago, Tom Bryan walked away from journalism and photography to […]
Lewis Lacey
In 2010 the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame welcomed Lewis Lacey, to which I say, “It’s about time.” Lewis L. Lacey was born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1887, the son of William Lacey, a professional cricket player. In 1891, when the Hurlingham Club was established by the British colony outside of Buenos Aires, […]
The Spreckels Cups
The sport of polo’s Spreckels Cup has a deliciously confusing history, a tangle to delight those who take pleasure in unraveling the strands. We begin with the namesakes: Shown above, John D. Spreckels (1853-1926) and below, Adolph B. Spreckels (1857-1924), sons of California sugar baron Claus Spreckels (1823-1908). Working together, John and Adolph invested in […]
DLIWC
In November of 1968, after six weeks of Air Force Basic Training, I was sent to the Defense Language Institute, West Coast branch, at the Presidio of Monterey. There I would study Serbo-Croatian. DLIWC, a.k.a. “dilly-wick,” was a mystery to me, but I was so grateful to be leaving Basic, I gave no thought to […]
Oktoberfest
In which we explain why a celebration called Oktoberfest begins in September and features a beer called Märzen (March) The first Oktoberfest was indeed in the month of October, hosted by Bavaria’s King Maximilian Joseph to honor the marriage of his son, Crown Prince Ludwig, to Princess Therese von Sachsen-Hildburghausen on October 12, 1810. After […]
Dear Roland,
March 21, 1986 Dear Roland, Her screams and the sound of shattering glass were so close together I couldn’t tell them apart. Crouched behind the counter now she was still screaming, right in my ear, her hands tearing at my jacket as if she wanted to force her way inside, and the glass was shattering […]
Faithful Readers 