Change and Topography

Last year by this date, the EX:Change project had taken me, via Mini Cooper, across about 5000 miles.  That’s a lot a lot of miles…and I was only half way. Already and more times than I can begin to recount, I’d been swept into that American road trip bonus:  The mix of surprise and awe at another unfolding of landscape – even the stretches I’d seen so many times before.  The land of this country… Read More

American Dreams

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Mary Oliver During this week last year, a comment appeared on the EX:Change blog from <expatrick>:  “Asking people to put their dreams into words is asking a lot, but it also helps them get a step farther down their own path. These are people’s prayers you’re hearing.” The other thing I’m remembering from that time was… Read More

ROAD TRIP!

  “When life has been given to you, you must take it very seriously.” Calvin Hecocta   There’s something about the open road.  Something about road trips.  Something about how there is just no way any amount of planning and dreaming can remotely predict what will happen in the way a road unfolds time. A year ago today I drove out of Portland.  I had organized my small bag, small supplies and… Read More

Groundhog’s Day

2-2-2009 Ashland, OR SLIGHTLY BEFORE MIDNIGHT Tonight the stars in Ashland, Oregon swan dive earthward through blue-black air.  Orion looks hotter than ever, his warrior vibe spangling the night. The Big Dipper, Cassiopeia and all the others whose names I’ve known and forgotten too many times, glisten beyond the capacity of any descriptor. I stepped out of my car a few hours ago and looked up. The magnificence overhead, a small finale on… Read More