Category: The Moosilauke Letters

ConnecticutMay  2014 We summited both the top of Massachusetts and the top of Connecticut on this trip.  Both tops are in the Berkshires. What do I know about the Berkshires?  Certainly it is a pretty area.  I’m told that the Berkshires and the nearby Green Mountains are the result of a collision between Africa and… Continue reading The Berkshires

CaliforniaMarch  2019 Death Valley National Park, a place of silent beauty, a starkly stunning natural medley of mud and salt flats, sand and towering mountains and dangerous extremes.  Daily temperatures easily top 100° in the summer, and if you are a desert dweller, it gets uncomfortably cold in winter.  The gravel and loose dirt at… Continue reading Notes from the Desert — Death Valley National Park

MaineJune  2019 Lisa spent the first part of her life in Maine.  I asked her how she handled the black flies when she was a kid.  She scoffed. “My friends and I compared, we held contests.  Who could not scratch for the longest time, who could get the most bites, who could hold out the… Continue reading The Black Fly

PittsburghPennsylvaniaJuly 1999 I dated Betsy three times.  The middle time, I parked in front of her house and walked up to the door, rang the bell.  When she opened the screen door for me, a white and brown spotted kitty cat ran past me, out of the house. Betsy and I talked on the telephone… Continue reading Walkin’ Cat

anywhere that’s not home You’re in the woods.  A bear shows up for its appointment.  What do you do? Essentially, don’t panic, but do what you do when you do panic.  Jump around, make noise, scream like a shrill little kid.  Especially if you are a shrill little kid.  Bears respond to sincerity. Also, stand… Continue reading What to do With a Bear

Hawai’iJune  2016 It’s warm in Hawai’i.  It gets warm at home in the northeast too.  But the Hawai’ians, to all appearances, are smarter.  “Formal wear” in Hawai’i can be an Aloha shirt.  In most of the rest of the country, “formal wear” includes a shirt too, but also another, thicker layer on top of that,… Continue reading What to Wear in Hawai’i

WikieupArizonaJune  2018 It is 103°.  We are driving US-93 in Arizona, 23 minutes south of Wikieup, the self-proclaimed rattlesnake capital of Arizona. At last count, 350 people live in Wikieup.  Or maybe it is 133 people.  Another source lists the population as 108.  Or it might be 190.  One source counts 6363 residents, but I… Continue reading Snoopy!

select U S statesFebruary  2018 Look.  I ordered a pair of Wranglers online.  They were distributed out of El Paso, Texas and then shipped to Albuquerque, New Mexico.  From there, they traveled to Hodgkins, Illinois, Saint Louis, Missouri and Youngstown, Ohio.  They were finally delivered to me in Pittsburgh. One of the challenges of traveling… Continue reading Travel by Jeans

United States of America2024 chickens     1 500 000 000 pelicans     250 000 cows     71 160 000 pigs     75 000 000 deer     36 000 000 pet cats     58 000 000 self-sufficient feral cats    30 000 000 ~ 100 000 000 dogs     89 700 000 prairie dogs     10… Continue reading How Many Live Here?

New MexicoJuly  2013 I don’t remember how I first came to know about our next destination but as soon as I learned about this rock, I knew I needed to be here.  Look at this thing! I mean, look at it! This is Shiprock.  Shiprock is magical, or at least it is sacred.  Legends abound. … Continue reading Shiprock