Early morning pranking in a forgotten cemetery
It’s 3 a.m. and I’m hanging from a rope. The rope is attached to the swinging bridge in Glen Park swaying over the Kinnickinnick River. Ultimate trust fall, Mike holds…
Adventurer finds beauty in national park
A chestnut beard, multi-red reflective aviators, a tan cowboy hat and a canister of bear spray hung on a strap from my neck and clung to my body as I…
Exploration of ‘haunted’ cemetery offers ironic feeling
Mike and I stopped our walk on Meridean Island, paused with baited breath, and listened for any howls from the “Hell Hounds.” Curious about ghost towns in the Spring of…
Solid handshake globetrots the world
I opened my mailbox to find, on top of the stack, a woman with golden skin, scarcely covered by a multi-colored blanket; dark brunette hair cascaded down her shoulders, white…
Message in bottle thrown to the Atlantic
I was Clutter’s guest, an old hiking pal from the Appalachian Trail, but she still asked me if I wanted to join her for a little concert at the College…
Alaskan mountain dominates its climber
In my glossy brochure of the trails for Kachemak Bay State Park, it said the Poot Peak trail leads to the top of the mountain, but there is a snag,…
Dreary nights spent in Alaskan terminal
I have no photographs of the two nights I slept in Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. The chill of the air-conditioning brushed my exposed arms; the average temperature outside had…
Midnight car racing in the forest similar to anxiety before exam
The starry night was lost in the haze of a small town lamp that perforated the plastic covering over the steaming window. I sat in a chair and glanced from…
The handlebar mustache experiment
In England, there is an exclusive club where the only condition of membership consists of ownership of the following item: “a hirsute appendage of the upper lip, with graspable extremities.”…
Enthusiastʼs wild petting zoo
“Christopher! Christopher!” said my nephew Samuel, age 12, who was on top of a riverbank pointing to the prairie grass where a beast was loitering. A bison with half of…