I'm pretty sure I made up the phrase "Urban Hiker". I love to go to a city and just start walking. At first, I'm totally lost, but if I keep exploring long enough, my navigation skills become as sure as any native's. I set out from my hotel in London, knowing that if I followed …
The Origins of the Word “Freemason”
There is something mystical about transforming native stone into buildings. It almost seems like magic since such structures were fashioned by hand without power tools or modern materials. In my county, stone buildings were made from limestone or sandstone. These sedimentary rocks are a good choice for such construction because of their accessibility and layered quality. I …
The Scottish Sheep Connection
A mystery. I ignored the clues until my sorority sister, Annie, pointed out that the stone walls at the edge of my Northern New York State property were most likely used centuries ago to prevent sheep from entering my woods. How did sheep get to The North Country, a wilderness overrun by wolves, lynx, and …
The Fallacy of Insignificance
I live in a place in northern New York State that many Americans never heard of and don't care to know about. Our population is dwindling as our manufacturing has moved to other places. Many who live downstate don't even realize that there is life above the NYS Thruway. Tourism saves us from total abandonment. …
The Map is Not the Territory
In the summer of 2001, at age 51, I went on a "Menopausal Odessey", a seventy-day, 7000-mile road trip across the US and Canada. It was a transitional quest, a cleansing. An attempt to run away from everything that reminded me of the past, my flaws, and all the mistakes I had made in my …
Footprints in the Dark
There are creatures in my woods. I know they are there, and I'm not afraid. The deer come at night to dig in the snow in my backyard. They like to eat my perennials, plants not found in the woods. I respect them; they travel in the dark to stay safe. It is part of …
The Story
Once upon a time, there was an old woman who believed in the magic of books. In the days of folk and fairy tales, she would have been called a crone, a character type in literature rarely included in the epics of male heroes and adventurers. A crone was a female long past her prime, …
Who’s a Witch?
She lay on the cold metal. All her sisters were gone. She was damaged, threads dangling from her clothes, and the broomstick ripped from her hand. She was a dollar store discard, worth 100 pennies, but because of the shaky world economy, she now costs $1.25. She was alone on the bottom level near the …
“SQUIRREL!!!!!!!!”
I'm easily distracted. I guess I'm the human personification of the popular cliche about the dog who loses all focus with the shouting of the word "squirrel!" I am interested in everything, gleefully having a love affair with the world. I like sociology and art and talking to people and nature and cities and rocks …
The Damn Funk and Wagnall
I think they were maroon-colored, upright soldiers standing at attention in a uniform line on one of the lower shelves of the bookcase my father had built for our living room. Looking back, they were a bit of democracy, readily available for all if the inclination was there. Everyone in my community had a set …
The Autonomous Traveler 