Somehow parts of Oregon and northern California break the mold and give you rock and crashing surf along with more traditional pioneer turf Where else could you find myrtle and olive hiding their bounty and guarding their secrets along with gris and noir, muscat and zinfandel redwood and western hemlock? What else could flower in a desert but a succulent ice plant or carpet weed? Would you rather have giant sequoia or a cuckoo clock to frame your name?

Give us this Day is the online creative journal of Kurtis Kitagawa, PhD (Edinburgh), MPhil (Oxford), MA (Chicago), BA First Class Honours (Calgary), who, withal, considers himself a student of history. Check daily for freshly composed essays and offbeat creative writing inspired by a life spent in universities, government, and business. Job offers gratefully accepted. Alternative facts welcome, and will not be burned. Nor will their ashes be used as eye shadow!