Baby’s Breath | East Wenatchee, WA | 2016
Today we treat sprays of wild baby’s breath as a noxious weed. But back in the 1980s, the bushy flowering plant, which thrives in arid climates, was touted to be the next Gold Rush. Purveyors claimed they could (more…)
Ducks | Bellevue, WA | 2016
A big city lawyer went duck hunting in rural Texas. He got one on the first shot, but it fell across the fence into a farmer’s field.
As the lawyer climbed over the fence to get the duck, an elderly farmer drove up on his tractor. “This is my property, and you are not coming over here,” he told the lawyer.
The indignant lawyer said, “I am one of the best trial lawyers in Texas. If you don’t let me get that duck, I’ll (more…)
Corner Lot | Warden, WA | 2016
Shreds of dreams linger in many of Eastern Washington’s small towns. In the last few decades, a shift in rural economies — more mail order, more consolidation, more Walmarts — undercut Main Street’s mom-and-pop businesses. Once-busy stores have now been repurposed into offices, senior centers or storage spaces. Others stand vacant, but have been cleaned and painted with hopes of housing new people, new ideas, new dreams.
Modern Ruin | Lind, WA | 2016
In the early 1900s, two competing transcontinental railroads crossed routes just outside the town of Lind. Sharing tracks? Out of the question. So a long elevated bridge was built on tall stanchions that allowed one company’s trains to chug (more…)
Stroll | Kure Beach, NC | 2016
One glorious quality of the American landscape is its vast emptiness. Yes, cities are suffocatingly crowded. Highways a knotted tangle. And popular beaches and parks a mass of humanity. But it’s easy to escape all that (really, it is) and be totally — or almost totally — alone. Best example: A drive across the (more…)
Seven Blooms | East Wenatchee, WA | 2016
Flowers, those tricky devils, combine bright colors and intricate shapes to lure pollinators. Bees and other insects can’t resist participating in this brazen sex act that (more…)
Backyard Mary | Amite, LA | 2016
“There is a reason Mary is everywhere. I’ve seen her image all over the world — in cafés in Istanbul, on students’ backpacks in Scotland, in a market stall in Jakarta. But I don’t think her image is everywhere because she’s a (more…)
Traveler | Seattle, WA | 2016
Traveling light requires planning and courage. If done right, you’ll leave behind much that you always thought mattered, both physically and mentally. Such as: Clean clothes for every day of travel. Books you’ve always meant to read. That damned hair dryer. The household chore list. Daily musts and shoulds that on the road simply fade away. Instead, what matters most are (more…)
Plane Shadow | Salt Lake City, UT | 2016
I look out the plane window and sometimes can’t believe we’re flying. Of all our technological achievements — television, satellites, touch screens, intermittent windshield wipers — human flight seems the most (more…)
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