

Darby Lee Patterson
- Jul 20, 2022
- 5 min
Hands-On, Heads Up Parenting
I have the pleasure of living across the road from an exceptional family. Mom, Nick, is a hospice social worker, Dad, D, is a Pilot...


Darby Lee Patterson
- Jul 12, 2022
- 2 min
Birthday Non-Blog from an Arts Elder
Above - 90-year-old Czech woman started painting murals when she retired from farming and has never stopped. she is my role model . So,...


Darby Lee Patterson
- Jul 5, 2022
- 4 min
Memories Molded from Hollywood to the Hills
We're in Don DeMenno's garage across the road from a bounteous Apple orchard – one of many that bring tourists to the Gold Country hills...


Darby Lee Patterson
- Jun 30, 2022
- 4 min
Roundup to the Poppy Corral
Her name is Poppy. I only know that because she's not dead, although she made a couple of brazen attempts to meet her maker. Here's the...


Darby Lee Patterson
- Jun 21, 2022
- 4 min
The Beast inside the Beauty
July is just around the bend of our country road. Up here at the 4000-foot elevation, we're under an umbrella of tall pines, and it's the...


Darby Lee Patterson
- Jun 15, 2022
- 4 min
Big Fire and Boy's Fort Bring Out Best of Humankind
Some of you know about my mega-project – creating a large bronze sculpture to honor the people and organizations that selflessly fought...


Darby Lee Patterson
- Jun 8, 2022
- 4 min
Policy Wonk at Work, Artist in the Kitchen
I’ve been waiting and watching to take in this country’s reaction to our extreme ownership and near-religious worship of firearms. When I...


Darby Lee Patterson
- Jun 1, 2022
- 5 min
Simple Moments of Calm Amid the Storm
As if there was not enough bad news in our world, a small school in Uvalde, Texas, stabbed us in the heart and sent us into...


Darby Lee Patterson
- May 26, 2022
- 5 min
Medals that Made My Memories
Memorial Day – a tradition in America since the Civil War. A day to honor the memory of the men and women who died in defense of this...


Darby Lee Patterson
- May 17, 2022
- 5 min
Social Media, Please Meet Social Conscience
Okay, my friends, I’m doing something unusual. Ordinarily, I wander off to gentle and personal places to write to you. But this week I’m...