Month: July 2017

Sunday Serenity: Small Things

Posted on by Annie

The oceans are wide, the beaches are long, and both give me a sense of my place in this world. I’m small and transient compared to the endlessness of water and land. I am more like the small things I find near these places. These periwinkles most stay attached to the rock, waiting out the low tides till the life-giving waters of the high tides bring them food. Sometimes, one will strike out for a new home, slowly making their way across the grains of sand, hoping to arrive before the tide can sweep them away. I can relate: driving…

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Beach Walking

Posted on by Annie

The place where I’ve been staying (and am now housesitting for two weeks) has a beautiful little beach at the end of the road and a small dirt path. It’s a locals-only beach and there’s rarely anyone else on it when I’m there. At one end is a huge condominium project on the site of the old Cape Codder hotel, which survives only as the name of the street there. At the other end is a small path to a slightly larger dirt road that comes out onto a loop of really pricey houses, about half of them newer and…

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Weekly Update: Jul 26, 2017

Posted on by Annie

This week found me hitting the east coast, the place I had been aiming for since the beginning of the year, with plenty of stops along the way. I lived in Massachusetts for 12 years (Boston, Acton, Stow, and Beverly, to be precise) so it feels like coming home in a way. And it took me about 10 seconds to remember the rules of MA driving, which include never acknowledging the other drivers and taking a yellow light to be the same as a green light. I may have a Washington plate on my car, but I can hold my…

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Sunday Serenity: The Open Road

Posted on by Annie

Over the last 15 months, I’ve seen a lot of roads. Some are wide open, blue skies, picture perfect, two-lane highways far from the madding crowds and strip malls of America. One of my favorites was this old carriage road weaving among the redwoods in California. Some of those trees were so close, I could reach out my window and touch them. All of them were magnificent. The most challenging road was this one: Titus Canyon in Death Valley. My friend convinced me the Subaru could take it (of course, without the trailer!) and there was actually only one place…

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201 Days

Posted on by Annie

California: On January 1, 2017, I was camping with friends as we kicked off the new year. I was on the western edge of the continent, nowhere to go but east. And so I headed out, aiming for the other coast, but without a firm timeline or big plan. Arizona and New Mexico, with a side trip to Texas: I surprised myself by absolutely falling in love with the high deserts of eastern Arizona and southern New Mexico. From Chiracahua to the Sacramento Mountains, I camped and hiked and listened to birdsong morning and evening. I was only going to…

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