"There's a view there, but I'm not too sure how good it will be." View? I was all about the view. That was the reward for a difficult hike. That was the explanation I gave to my mother who could not understand "why anyone would want to walk up a mountain" - how else would I get to see wonderful vistas? How else could I stand in awe at my own puniness in the face of nature's grandness? And this hike had promised three vistas, at least one of them … [Read more...]
A Bunch of Rocks: The Environmental Gutting of Malta
As you look down from the hillside onto the apparent perfection of Malta's Blue Lagoon, you struggle to imagine it in any other condition. Land embraces lagoon like a protective parent. Water shines like a molten blending of sapphires and emeralds. The perpetually cloudless sky appears hazy against such brilliance. Craggy islets guard the entrance like dorsal spines on some mythic leviathan. But you walk the Malta of the modern world, a … [Read more...]
Colombia’s Coffee Boom
For inhabitants of Colombia, coffee production is an effective means for economic growth and prosperity. And the National Coffee Research Center (Cenicafe), located in Chinchiná and sponsored by the Colombian Coffee Grower's Federation, is working hard to highlight the influence of coffee on the economic development of the Cafe Triangle region in Colombia and countries like Guatemala and Honduras, says Fernando Gast, PhD, director of scientific … [Read more...]
Dancing with Elephants and Gods: Kandi, Sri Lanka
It's not everyday that you get to frolic with elephants and gods. Let me remind you that God supposedly sent Adam to Sri Lanka after his expulsion from heaven, as it was close to what he had left behind. After this visit, I have no reason to doubt this, as Sri Lanka truly is a paradise on earth and I was happy to get a taste of it. A pineapple and coconut shack we found while going to Kandy "Guess what! Change of plans! We are going to … [Read more...]
Linger Longer at Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park
Hawai'i, the Big Island (June 22, 2011) -You know what breaks our heart? Hearing about visitors to Hawai'i Island who are staying in Kona, and who drive two or three hours over to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, then drive around the park for a couple of hours, dashing through the visitors center, taking a snapshot of the steaming summit crater, maybe a quick walk through Nāhuku Lava Tube, then off they go again all the way back to Kona. This … [Read more...]
The Lovely Inishowen Peninsula and More
As our plane dipped down below the mist, patchwork fields of green came into view. Then we went in for the landing in Belfast and could see sheep in a nearby pasture. This was hard to explain, but I felt like I was entering into an ancient homeland. Maybe because my family had distant Irish ancestry. My sister-in-law met my mother, sister and I and we went by car to the Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal along the coast to Moville. The … [Read more...]
The Artist and the Tinker
Some couples are as different as night and day. That's the way it was with my husband Bill and myself. There were a legion of differences, but probably the biggest was that I considered myself the artist and the only one of us that had any truly creative spirit. I would consider the things I did as a crafting of ideas with the fine and incisive beam of a laser mind and would think of Bill (who had worked as a general contractor in the … [Read more...]
Burning (Wo)Man and the American Dream
It's as if I have a tailwind behind me ferrying me along as I move quickly - so very quickly along. I cannot stop; I feel as if the road is driving me rather than me driving the road. I feel possessed by a Spirit, whose name I do not know - yet a name just at the tip of my tongue. A spirit that drives me towards a familiar destination, but not so familiar as I recall. I have ridden this highway that stretches across this nation two times … [Read more...]
San Juan Sailor
Cold rain and a fierce north wind whipped my face. I tightened my hood, careful to keep one hand on the Zodiac's helm. I knew almost nothing about sailing, but here I was, at the wheel of a 127-foot vintage wooden schooner in a driving rainstorm, all four sails catching the wind. Twenty-three wannnabe sailors and I had been told this would be a working trip, but I never thought I'd actually be piloting the ship, especially on a day like this. … [Read more...]
Life in a Tree House – memoirs of a 2-week vegetarian
I had been surfing the internet, looking for a volunteer opportunity that would allow us to stay in Buenos Aires for a couple weeks. We thought it would be good to get our hands dirty again, stay in a place for a while, and meet some fantastic people. We were right! We saw the website and thought we'd give it a try. From the name, it was a little risky, here are my immediate, unfiltered thoughts: eco - will we have warm showers? Will we be … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 76
- 77
- 78
- 79
- 80
- …
- 93
- Next Page »