As you explore the Big Island, several names keep coming up. Kamehameha the Great, the king who united the Hawaiian archipelago, and Ka’ahumanu, his formidable queen, are the island’s most dominant mortal protagonists. Among gods, two sisters lead the way: Poli’ahu, the goddess of ice and snow, and her perpetual nemesis, Pele, the goddess of fire, a pretty big deal on terrain … Continue reading
This week’s travel theme, “Below,” made me think of the serenity I felt while looking down on Harpers Ferry, where the Potomac and the Shenandoah rivers meet. It was a fine autumn day, and we decided to explore Maryland Heights, the highest of the mountains overlooking the town. Here’s what we saw: Your journey can begin … Continue reading
Now that spring has finally sprung, I look forward to our walks at my favorite local place to watch the seasons turn: the Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve. Just south of Old Town Alexandria along the scenic George Washington Memorial Parkway, Dyke Marsh does have its scrappy patches, the old wounds still visible and, in places, growing. Still, there … Continue reading
In Savannah for a day, its historic walks behind me, I was in the mood to escape Southern hospitality–and humanity in general. An oasis of calm awaited only 20 minutes away from the city center: the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, 29 thousand acres of bottomland hardwood groves, swathed in Spanish moss, and freshwater marshes, wide … Continue reading
Our autumn sunrise at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge ended up among the favorites in the assortment of impressions and memories of the past year. The Refuge is a serene and meditative place in any season, but we especially love it in the winter: Everything is so spare then. Because all the other colors … Continue reading
I was longing for some snow. Serious winter snow. So when our friends proposed a pre-New Year escape to the Blackwater Falls State Park in West Virginia, we signed up. We stayed at the lodge in the park, a comfortable place overlooking the canyon that the Blackwater River has carved over millennia (it is worth the extra … Continue reading
“The air is wild with voices, avian dialects are being spoken from every direction. The sky vibrates with wings.” (Terry Tempest Williams, Refuge) One of the things I love about going to Utah is the inevitable early mornings: I wake up before dawn, otherwise a painful procedure. Last week, such early morning happened to be … Continue reading
A late afternoon at the Mokolodi Nature Reserve was another welcome escape during my busy work week in Gaborone. Only 15 km south of town, the Reserve was a short, beautiful ride away from my hotel. We drove under Botswana’s endless sky, red, rugged earth stretching to infinity, and I felt all my worries, and meetings, … Continue reading
The summer is almost over, and I am ready for autumn to begin (DC summers are entirely too hot, humid, and, lately, temperamental for comfort). Here is a memory of early summer, before it became its usual impossible self, from one of my favorite places to watch the seasons turn: Dyke Marsh Wildlife Preserve, a … Continue reading
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