There is no field guide for the decisions we have to make in life when we come across forks in the road that we weren’t expecting. The maps we follow might show the outline of a path, but the conditions on the ground are entirely a product of time, season, and maybe fate. When we hit log jams or intersections, we must choose: up and over? left or right? forwards or backwards? As civilized beings of the so-called Modern World,Read More
My plans for the long weekend were patchy and unconfirmed as I set out in my car alone on Saturday morning, but I had three goals. I wanted to climb. I wanted to camp and explore more of the valley that runs out from the Coulee’s dramatic basalt columns into a dry glacial plain before diving over the cliffs of the Columbia River Gorge. And I wanted to sail. A good friend of mine was going to be starting aRead More
I remember exactly how I felt sitting in a cheap plastic chair on that little balcony during my first night in Cairo, feet propped up on the railing as I stared out at a softly glowing haze thick with dust and sand. Al Qahirah’s tradewinds blew a hot, dirty night breeze into our faces, and despite already knowing that the city’s air was notorious for turning its residents’ lungs as black as pack-a-day smokers, I was completely in love.