Table of Contents
Laughing Matters xi
Few and Far Between 1
Walking to California 9
Tired of Chickens 13
The Leprechaun Trap 18
Will the Real Fake John Muir Please Stand Up? 23
Such Sweet Sorrow 31
Them! and Us 39
Scout's Honor 43
Imagining Shark Mountain 50
The Moopets 55
Desert Flood 63
What Would Edward Abbey Do? 70
Lone Tree 75
How to Cuss in Western 80
Desert River Music 87
Shit Happens 95
Sir Rantsalot in the Dead Tree Forest 104
Road Captain 111
My First Rodeo 116
IH8 DMV 127
Don't Fence Me In 135
Cowboys and Aliens 142
Trial by Jury 148
Closing the Mountain 153
Pleistocene Rewilding 160
Uncle Hedgie 166
Upon the Burning of Our House 172
Running into Winter 181
Missives from the Hill 186
Credits 191
Acknowledgments 193
About the Author 197