Roaring Run Natural AreaPennsylvaniaJanuary 1996 The plan is to do a midnight hike so I can celebrate the turning of my birthday in the wilderness with some friends. We gather at my house, friends and friends-of. The friends-of don’t quite get it. “You’re going to go out in the woods at night? You can’t see… Continue reading Happy Birthday to Me
Author: asiwentwalking
String of Pearls VIII – Conch Republic
Key WestFloridaJanuary 2018 Randomly ask a person where to find the southernmost point of the United States and that person might say, “Florida,” or even, “The Florida Keys,” which extend farther south than the mainland. If that person has ever looked closely at this geography, they might even narrow it down to Key West, at… Continue reading String of Pearls VIII – Conch Republic
String of Pearls VII – The Seven Mile Bridge – Not Really
Knight’s Key / Little Duck KeyThe Florida KeysJanuary 2018 Forty-two bridges connect many of the islands that make up the Florida Keys. The longest one is the Seven Mile Bridge. It is 6.79 miles long. You probably are not wondering why it isn’t called the Six Point Seven Nine Mile Bridge. At one time it… Continue reading String of Pearls VII – The Seven Mile Bridge – Not Really
String of Pearls IX – The Dead Live Here
Key West CemeteryKey WestThe Florida KeysJanuary 2018 Please honor those who went before us. Dead people have a lot to say. But they don’t have a lot of space to say it in, what with their message carved into a suitcase-sized tombstone. So they’ve got to be succinct. For example, Giorgio Aversa says, on his… Continue reading String of Pearls IX – The Dead Live Here
13 Shorts
1the scene…the men’s room at the airport what I am doing…standing at the urinal doing what one does when one stands at the urinal, which is to say, peeing what the guy next to me is doing…standing at the urinal doing what one does when one stands at the urinal, which is to say, peeing,… Continue reading 13 Shorts
Delight
ArkansasJune 2012 From Driskill Mountain, Louisiana to Mount Magazine in Arkansas. We pass this sign, reminding us that, yes, we are in the Bible Belt… JESUS FIRSTOTHERS SECONDYOU LAST We get lost on our drive, not spiritually, but geographically. For thirty minutes Lisa drives this way and that on the two-lanes with me cursing the… Continue reading Delight
An Ill-Tempered Man
Mount DavisPennsylvaniaJune 2014 Before we begin on our hike to the high point, we cross the road, like very few chickens actually do, to visit Baughman Rock. A hundred feet into the woods on a handicap accessible trail we come to an area which could only be “the Rocks.” There is an entrance to the… Continue reading An Ill-Tempered Man
Sassafras
Sassafras MountainSouth CarolinaMay 2013 The mountain laurel is in bloom. Mountain laurel is the official flower of my home state of Pennsylvania, but we won’t get the bloom up north for a few more weeks. What else grows here in the South, in addition to the laurel? Hey, it’s spring. Plenty grows here. Pink lady… Continue reading Sassafras
Carved in Stone
Black MesaOklahomaMarch 2013 Ahead, we see something with straight lines subtly sticking up perpendicular from the straight horizontal line of the horizon. I’ll bet that’s our ultimate destination: The marker at the high point. Another ten minutes. After an anything-but-grueling 600-foot climb, we comfortably arrive at the summit, in the midst of the flat highland. … Continue reading Carved in Stone
A Rather Naughty Way to Store Water
303 North Summit StreetYpsilanti MI 48197September 2022 Just the name of the town itself sings: Ypsilanti Ips sill anty. The first Domino’s Pizza location was here in Ypsilanti. Ypsilanti has one of the three tridges in Michigan. A tridge is a three-way bridge, sometimes called a Y-bridge for its shape. The shore of… Continue reading A Rather Naughty Way to Store Water