I call this series “Just Vignettes” because that’s what they are, just short snapshots of things that have happened to me or have been told to me. I can vouch that the stories you read here are mostly true.

Most of my childhood was spent in Richland, Washington, just downstream on the Columbia River from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation. I imagine growing up there was like growing up anywhere else. Still, I can point to at least one difference.

For part of fourth grade, I attended Jefferson Elementary school in Richland. I remember only about three things from my fourth-grade time spent there....