At our 2017 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: Encounters
eclipse glasses vs knives
He had a knife. True, he was laughably unsteady and incoherent in his demands — almost as wobbly as I was in that moment. But he had a knife. I shared the story with a local friend the next day, and she explained that such encounters were known, at least among Los Angelenos, as friendly …
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 …
who are we?
After I finally finished school for the first time, most new encounters eventually got around to: “What do you do?” Come to think of it, when I went back to school 20 years ago, I was old enough that people still asked that, so I guess it has more to do with being “working age” …
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 …
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 …
photographs and journal notes and other stuff of memories
I hiked desert mountains of the U.S. Southwest with a retired Boston firefighter, whom I met while pedaling a remote Nevada road. The incongruity of his lush New England accent amid those vast arid settings was reminder that we are all travelers, each on our own peculiar journey through time. Among the surprises of that …
Continue reading photographs and journal notes and other stuff of memories
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 …
The Pedaling Astronomer Project 