
The Great Pacific Northwest Ice Storm
Maelstrom surged—dozens of people milling about, all on cell phones. Of the 11 scheduled departures from Eugene Airport, all save the one to Dallas had been cancelled. Too icy for airplanes, taxis, Ubers or Lyfts. The 2022 Pacific Northwest ice storm was the culprit. I’d flown down from Seattle to visit my sailing buddy Mike…
Night Train to Leningrad
We’re stopped on a siding now and I hear the blaring screech of a steam whistle as a train passes us going the opposite direction. Our sleeping car is shaking. As the train starts to move again I swing my legs over the side of the bunk and rotate so my feet find the ladder.…
Lost
Lost I’m on a street called Medhat Basha. I’ve walked the three quarters of a mile from Baba ash-Sharqi to Bab Al-Jabiye two times. The exotic sights and smells of this historic thoroughfare no longer entice me. I can’t find the shop with the striped awning which signals the hotel turn. My stomach grumbles, my…
Haiti
Ayiti I went to Haiti in April of 2017 as a supernumerary on a nursing mission trip in conjunction with the Episcopal University Nursing School in Leogane. My interest was the usual curiosity of a seasoned traveler, but also, as a healthcare architect, I had prepared preliminary drawings for a surgery center in Canaan, a…