Greg Brummet may not be a familiar name in Sonoma County, but chances are locals have seen his hand-painted pipe-smoking fish sign and mobile fish “hut.” For 40 years, Brummet has operated Samnzar Smoke Shack, a one-man smoked fish operation, along the roadside in west Sonoma County. Each weekend, he pulls his covered pickup into a small turnout along Bodega Highway, among the old apple orchards. From this humble location, he sells salmon to longtime customers and curious passersby.

Einstein himself apparently had no special plans for what he knew could be a momentous day. He was home in Berlin. He wrote a letter admitting a “blunder” in an ongoing debate with Theodor Kaluza, a German…

Last week, Johnny and I randomly went to Russian River. We hadn’t seen each other much for the past few months, since the conbini planning and build-out, so Yoko gave me the weekend off and I booked a cottage in Guerneville, a town along the Russian River. Neither of us had ever been to Russian River, a prized destination for our outdoorsy friends, about two hours northeast of San Francisco.