I was working my way back from Japan in the greasy boiler room of an old oil tanker. As we passed through the Columbia River Bar, the big engines began pumping zealously. Decks rolled, rusty hull groaned, salt & fresh water joined a broad, horseshoe-shaped mass of transverse nerve fibres that connect the medulla with the cerebellum. It is also the point of origin or termination for four of the cranial nerves that transfer sensory information and motor impulses to rain heavy punches on empty holds. With a boyish grin, Chief Engineer said, If we're gonna sink, it'll be now.

From, "Inside the Skull-House."
Photo of JW by Faye Powell, Portland, Oregon, 2004.