Musings on Travel and Life
Little house, island of heat, sanctuary in the snow Darkened squares, windows of night, hinting at winter outside. Creamy walls, hanging with art, pictures of family past Heated lamp, gently aglow, bathing the living room gold. Fresh-cut spruce, scented with sap, presents collected beneath Steaming tea, seeping with mint, cooling in wait to be drank. …
It was late afternoon, and I’d barely moved all day. I’d planned to sail over the lush, livid tundra of New Zealand, to run far and fast without a pack. But it’d been a long month of stress, and a long week of travel, and a long day just before, hiking up from the lowlands. …
Continue reading “Having Less Fun Doesn’t Help the Climate. Being Political Does.”
The day was hot, but I was cool, still damp from my last swim in the river. I’d been jumping in every half an hour, fully clothed, letting the desert heat dissipate in the current. Then I’d ran on, enjoying a temporary immunity from the sun as I took in the view. Near the river …
The fire danced, flames strong and healthy against the night. It its glow, people rested in a loose circle, sitting on chairs and benches and whatever else they could find. Behind them, more people stood, and further out, on a courtyard of gravel and dust, a dance party shifted and ebbed. People moved in singles …
I’m in the mountains, on a relaxed day-hike. Most of my group is climbing a steep, technical peak that is almost all glacier, but I wanted something mellower, without the stress and choices of real mountaineering. My friend Cassandra was in a similar mood, and she’s joined me for a day of open ridgeline, easy …