After two nights we left the Abbey, but started out originally in what might appear to be the “wrong” direction, because we were headed up to Devil’s Punchbowl, a bowl of spectacular pink rocks wedged against the very foot of […]
Travel
San Miguel to Valyermo, Part 2
So we left San Miguel, initially on the same road that we had entered the town on, but then taking a different road toward Parkfield. The road ascended up a canyon that looked like the one we had descended, came […]
San Francisco to San Miguel, Part I
In the month of September, 2010, I had the privilege of going with some friends on a road trip the length of the San Andreas Fault, from San Francisco to the Salton Sea. September is not the most aesthetically beautiful […]
Identification Cards Required to Leave the State
Some rather interesting requirements imposed for flying. It declares, “If you plan to fly out of the state, federal regulations mandate that all adult passengers (ages 18+) must provide a valid state or federal photo ID that includes the passenger’s […]
You Know You’ve Spent Too Much Time in Europe if…
1. You find it just as easy to think in terms of Celsius and kilometers as you do in Fahrenheit and miles. You hear it’s in the 20s outside and momentarily think, “Oh, good, I can go outside in T-shirt […]
The Pro-Life Vivaldi
While being taken around to various churches in Venice looking at art – Italy may be working on the Separation of Church and State, but there isn’t much of a Separation of Church and Art – we happened to stumble […]
Byzantium on the Pacific, A Visit to Alaska
This summer, for the first time, my wife and I made a visit to America’s largest state, Alaska. In her case it was especially poignant, because she had passed up a chance to go there with her parents at age […]
Exotic Maine
Recently my wife and I had the pleasure of going as far as you can from California and still be in the lower 48 states. Maine is at the northeast corner of the country. It is our easternmost state and […]
New York is a Very Strange Place
Last week I had the pleasure of being in New York City for some events associated with the Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA). New York City has plenty of waterfront; most of it is on islands, and it occupies the […]