“...so there we are, twelve of us, plus our guides, scrabbling over rocks and other uneven terrain down a forested gorge somewhere in Madya Pradesh, India. We have already walked a couple of miles from where the vehicles disgorged us, leaving us with just our daypacks, trekking poles, and one another.”
“We have driven well into the park on the heels of dawn. Birdsong greets us, as do the langur monkeys, who are on the move. The herds of spotted deer, called chital, are grazing peacefully… the favorite meal of the object of our quest: the Bengal tiger… the tigers enjoy status that approaches royalty. They are, after all, the national animal.”
“Think back. All that isolation, all that fear. All that mask fashion! All the neighbors, coming out at 7pm to make a grateful racket for the first responders and essential workers. The clear skies, and wildlife sightings in places which had seen none for decades. The empty streets and highways and airports. The Zoom classes…”
“I laze, and think back. Last time I woke up in a bed, I was 7,200 miles away in Shimla, India. Traversing space becomes a matter of duration. Arriving home was a 41-hour gauntlet of driving and waiting in airport lounges and hiking through terminals to the four flights (one for 16-1/2 hours) that brought me home…”
“It is a hard life, with a harsh climate, continual manual labor, and dependency on the grasslands of the steppe to nourish the herds, and thus, them. But there is also abundant beauty, whether embedded in the faces of people secure in who they are, or being beneath the “Eternal Blue Sky,” or feeling deep appreciation for the animals.”
“Imagine my surprise, to discover that I live smack-dab on the North Country Trail. This happy realization occurred when I joined some friends who were chipping away at the NCT in 10-mile segments through Kent County in 2019. Although I had intended to join them multiple times that year, I only made it once, on a steamy-hot summer day in August.”
“Most of what I recall from high school world history about Genghis Khan is of a brutal culture. I learned about hordes of warriors racing on horseback across much of Eurasia, causing all sorts of mayhem in the course of building the Mongol Empire. But the full story behind it paints a very different picture. While preparing for the journey to Mongolia in September, 2023, I found myself applauding much of that history.”
“In Mongolia, a centuries-old tradition of hunting in partnership with eagles endures. Our small group of travelers had several chances to witness this unique human-eagle bond while traveling around the western province of Bayan Ulgii in September, 2023.”
“I step from the four-passenger SUV and gaze across the land before me. The image I have imagined since reading about the steppes of Mongolia in childhood is of undulating land that doesn’t end until somewhere beyond the limit of my sight. This place is stunning and harsh and fantastically empty of almost anything but the natural world. Above the unending terrain is the eternal blue sky.”
“…the immense moonless bowl overhead is brightly etched with stars. The air’s sharp September bite soon drives me back to my cozy sleeping bag. As I enter and close the door, the interior is as silent as a snowy morning. Inside, a person can’t help but feel safe and secure from whatever may come: cold, wind, noise. My temporary home out here on the steppes of Mongolia is called a “ger.”
“A month into my return from Mongolia, I have at last finished sifting the 3,800 photographic images of a magical time. How easy it has been to be re-immersed in that far-away place. I can still close my eyes and still feel my feet on that amazing terrain, smell the clean air, hear the silence of the steppes.”
“Flowers seem to be everywhere. Even in cities, there appears to be great effort to bring the color and beauty of flowers to the streets… I am a flower geek. I don’t know all their names, or how they like to grow, and that’s fine. But I often (ok, daily) take the time to stop and really notice the flowers I come across with humble and deep appreciation.”
“I make my way back to the house, and carefully close and lock the back door on the way through. Finally, it is time to go. I walk through the house one last time. Nothing moves, aside from the fish outside in the pond. The stereo is off. No clock is ticking. The silence is a good sort of quiet. I’m ready. The day awaits.”
“The emergency services are filled with heartbreaking stories. This is a “given,” given the nature of the work. That said, things usually go well and are made better… But sometimes there are factors in play when outcomes go “south” that highlight less-than-stellar public safety performance... The following story is one of the avoidably heartbreaking kind, but by telling it, my hope is that it can help prevent further preventable tragedies.”
“As my mind slowly rises from the depths of sleep, I awaken in a state of pure, leisurely relaxation. The birds outside my windows are singing, but otherwise, I am surrounded by stillness of the sort that fuels my soul. More than a quarter-century of rising to the rhythm, the feel, the air, the sounds of this place has made of it an exceptional spot to call home.”
“I've been a "citizen scientist" for the Community Collective Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) for about four years now, with about 900 reports sent in from every time of year and sort of weather. I cannot say enough about how good it feels to help collect relevant climate data. Just before the summer solstice recently, CoCoRaHS, a volunteer organization, celebrated its 25th anniversary. My, how time flies.”
“In the early 1900s, the railroad leading to the coastal settlement of Luderitz in German South West Africa… was perpetually assaulted by the sands of the Namib Desert. Workers constantly had to shovel sand drifts off the rails. In April, 1908, a Black railroad worker named Zacharias Lewala found a perfectly clear stone… It was the first of the diamonds which would within four short years become millions of carats of harvested there annually.”
“Having a sense of belonging is an embedded human need. Family is the first and, for many, the closest group any of us has. It is certainly where we first learn what it means to belong. Whether a family is spare in numbers, like mine, or ample, like this one, each is unique…”
“We come today to the north shore of Lake Huron, near the eastern tip of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Waves lap in a relaxed fashion onto the cobblestone beach just a few feet away.”
“If you’re a Scotch drinker, what could be better than 10 days in Scotland? Upon arrival in Glasgow in September 2022, a couple of free days on my own led me to a tour and chocolate/whisky tasting at The Clydeside Distillery. What better way to jumpstart my trip, and add to my scant but enthusiastic knowledge about the deliciousness of Scotch whisky (no e!).”
