I was driving a pale blue Citroen 2CV that belonged to a friend who would not mind at all that I’d scraped up a fender after trying to back out of cornfield. The car got stuck and I had to go to a nearby cafe where, in very bad Spanish, I asked two ruddy faced …
We were supposed to fly to Kantishna, but the sky was heavy with rain. Too low, too low, with no visibility, we were not allowed to fly. Instead, we drove two hours to the gates of Denali National Park where we boarded a rattling school bus piloted by a guy with a perfect radio announcer …
“Do you mind my asking? Are you Christian?” “No, no, I’m Jewish.” “Messianic? Orthodox?” I smile and shake my head. “Ha, no, I’m a West Coast Jew. I grew up in California.” I’m not sure Norman knows what I mean by this. “I’m not practicing,” I say, by way of explanation. “Have you been to …
I was getting ready to leave when the little guy dropped himself down next to me on the sand. He didn’t say anything or reach for me, he just sat down and started playing with his shovel and messing around with sticks. I couldn’t get up and walk away, he was so companionable and quiet, …
There are 860 hairpin turns on Mexico’s Highway 120 which snakes through the Sierra Gorda Mountains in the Northern Central Highlands. Looking down at the valleys while the bus driver navigated 180 degree turns with skill I couldn’t help but wonder what little a guardrail would do (where there were some) to stop a mammoth …
Two guys are opening their surf shack. One of them is digging perfectly spaced holes in the sand, the other is dropping bright yellow umbrellas into the holes and popping them open. A man sits on the stone wall facing the surf, barefoot, a cell phone glued to his head, a deep frown marking his …