John Hartman Patterson: The Dude Abides
January 19, 2025
Whatever you do, don’t work the middle school dance night. … More John Hartman Patterson: The Dude Abides
Category: family stories
The Road Not Taken
June 1, 2024
By Robert Frost In this bit of a lawyer’s road review I wish to dedicate this poem to our daughter Rachel J. Patterson. Most of us from around these parts graduate from High School, maybe go to college but nearly always return to the headwaters of our family origin, a town a lot like Everett … More The Road Not Taken
Scholar, Solider, Lawyer, Spy
February 20, 2022
This post is about my Dad. I discovered in my studio an interview I did with him about his early life, and I have to say, hearing his voice again after all these months he has been gone was comforting. Let me tell you about his early life by letting him talk about it to … More Scholar, Solider, Lawyer, Spy
My Parents Big Fat Catholic Wedding
October 19, 2019
My parents wed in 1956 and they went the distance; 62 years, until Mom died this spring. This is the story of the wedding. It is 1955. My parents announce their engagement and party is held in the house my grandparents built during the war. They set the date for July 14th, 1956, which is … More My Parents Big Fat Catholic Wedding
There is Refuge in the Road: My Father’s Buick
June 16, 2019
You my find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile. You may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife. You may ask yourself, “Well, how did I get here?”- David Byrne My family has always owned Buicks. I remember my grandmother telling me the Roadmaster had been her favorite car, but … More There is Refuge in the Road: My Father’s Buick
The Rusting Seagull
April 28, 2018
Suddenly the skies opened up this week and we had a taste of high summer. No better time to get out on the bike and find out how rusty the muscles became over winter. It is pretty bad but not irreparable. On the waterfront I encountered the art work that represented my body, the rusty … More The Rusting Seagull
The 1941 Pearl Harbor Day Experience
December 7, 2017
“Attention every station and all the ships at sea. The Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor by air. This is not a drill.” How many movies have centered around the events of Dec. 7th 1941? They all seem to start out with sailors, usually officers and their wives and girlfriends at a dance. Suddenly there is … More The 1941 Pearl Harbor Day Experience
Geese Mate for Life
October 7, 2017
Each fall the wind blows through the wheat stubble of Eastern Washington, and the spouts of winter wheat bring on an emerald green to the fields that matches the hoods on the male Mallard duck. Waterfowl and upland game cross the fields and water ways and men of my family historically go hunting for them. … More Geese Mate for Life
Summers in Idaho
September 17, 2017
It is 50 years ago. My sister and I sit on the Coca-Cola ice water chest in front of the Atlantic Richfield service station watching the cars emerge from the heat shimmers off the highway, then disappear into them again. It is about 100 degrees and really dry. Occasionally we have to get off … More Summers in Idaho
Lawyers Road Review 