At my last high-school reunion, one of my dearest classmates hugged me and, without hint of irony, whispered, “You’ve had an interesting life, Gary.” Ah, the power of hugs! But did you notice her use of past tense? Such a small thing, but yeah, I noticed, because our stories are hardly over. Life was then, …
Tag: Bicycle Travel
like normal people
So declared the marquee of a Houston patio bar. I heard lots of lawyer jokes when I worked as an attorney. Most weren’t great, but I was delighted that others enjoyed sharing them with me. My favorite? “How many lawyer jokes are there, anyway? Only three. The rest are true stories.” Despite my years of …
silly scientist
Long ago, a friend asked that I arrange “a romantic night under the stars” for her Las Vegas-based supervisor and his betrothed. When I reported the plans I was making for a dark desert site, including a large telescope operated by an experienced astronomer, my friend asked, “What about a bonfire and champagne?” I explained …
out and away
I was just 1500 miles into the initial 48-state portion of this continuing journey, when I stopped for a meal at a patio bistro on Missouri’s Katy Trial. The Big’s distinctive profile gets noticed, even where other bicycles abound, and a young lady at the next table asked about the bike. I explained the mobile-observatory …
cat people
I was never a cat person. I still have a scar on my left index finger, the gift of the irate Siamese who bit me when I was four. And I was allergic to cats when young. I was allergic to many irritants, actually, but cats were among the worst. My eyes would itch, then …
pollywogs
The whole point of taking pictures is so that you don’t have to explain things with words – Elliot Erwitt. An able photographer would convey that the tadpoles’ shallow pool was but a small sample of roadways flooded by early-summer storms that inundated the U.S. heartlands that season, leaving destruction and yet, yes, life, in …
a good story
When he realized the load I was pedaling versus the journey ahead, a new friend chastised that I had planned poorly. Conceding I had indeed scant strategy, I continued, “But which story is more compelling? One: I anticipated and prepared for every eventuality. There were no surprises. Or two: I had no idea what I’d …
a snapshot of everywhere
Scene: A pair of bare athletic legs and shoe-less feet, revealed from mid-thigh below a privacy partition screening the back work area of a rural post office from its front-facing public space, legs dancing – and dancing well! – without the least inhibition, to Johnny Cash’s I’ve Been Everywhere playing on the small space’s single …
ghost over central park
She stood waiting in the lobby of her building, shushing the nurse worrying over her – both giggling – devotion, each to the other, obvious in every gesture. I gasped, “Oh, but she is gorgeous! You didn’t warn me!” My companions had described her age, but little else. Childlike yet poised, delicate yet enduring, unpretentious …
trace encounters – why we wander
“Y’all okay?” It was a bright, postcard-worthy Saturday afternoon on the Natchez Trace Parkway. A steady north breeze pushed Southern Mississippi’s oppressive humidity back to the Gulf of Mexico, to the relief of all but the few Nashville-bound bicycling tourists for whom it served a challenging headwind. “Need me to come down there?” His voice, …
The Pedaling Astronomer Project 