“We leave something of ourselves behind when we leave a place, we stay there, even though we go away. And there are things in us that we can find again only by going back there.” ~Peter Mercier, Night Train to Lisbon Our first house was a turn-of-the nineteenth-century Victorian on a tree-lined street in Oak Park, … Read More
“I have seldom heard a train go by and not wished I was on it.” ~Paul Theroux, The Great Railway Bazaar The Pullman sleeping car was gently rocking from side to side as I climbed aboard the Canadian National St. Hyacinthe. Berths with comfy-looking pillows and rose-colored blankets were turned down for the night, and light from … Read More
It would be hard to find a more perfect place to begin a tour of Palm Springs architecture than the Saguaro Hotel. Rows of balconies painted in a vibrant rainbow of shades wrap around a swimming pool decked out in sunny yellows and oranges. Designed to reflect the colors of Coachella Valley desert wildflowers, the … Read More
Sam Cobb is holding court under a canopy of magnificent palm trees, regaling the fifteen of us who have signed on for his date farm tour with stories about life as a California date farmer. Passionate, delightful and incredibly entertaining, he’s the science teacher you wish you’d had in high school, the one who can … Read More
“What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.” ~Antoine de Saint Exupéry, The Little Prince Endless rows of twisted, bristly-branched Joshua trees and ruggedly-shaped rock formations line the main road that winds about 30 miles through Joshua Tree National Park. It’s a surreal scene, a vast and desolate landscape that appears … Read More
At first glance, Palm Springs seems like a city firmly planted in another era. The mid-century modern architecture, home tours that showcase where Hollywood stars once escaped the L.A.limelight, and the names of long-ago celebrities etched on the city’s “Walk of the Stars” tell a nostalgic story. You’d almost expect Frank Sinatra to appear around … Read More
“For me the camera is a sketch book, an instrument of intuition and spontaneity, the master of the instant, which, in visual terms, questions and decides simultaneously.” ~Henri Cartier-Bresson, The Mind’s Eye: Writings on Photography and Photographers I got my first camera in June 1959, when I turned five years old. It was a Kodak Brownie, … Read More
It was the day after Christmas, and we were headed out with our family for a ride on the Bay Area’s iconic Tilden Park Steam Train. A quick Google check had shown the train opening an hour early at 10 a.m., a great idea we’d thought, given the attraction’s typically long lines. When we arrived, … Read More
On a sunny mid-August morning earlier this year, Herb and I were traveling through the hills near Holy Loch, Scotland, on our way to a place called Rest And Be Thankful. The viewpoint marks the spot where Highlanders moving their livestock would pause to rest after climbing the surrounding steep hills, thankful to have made … Read More
“So… you’re going on the Habitat 67 tour on your way to the airport?” our son Andrew asked over FaceTime, laughing as he was making plans to pick us up from our flight to San Diego. “Yeah, that sounds about right!” I’ll admit I’m guilty of over-extending when it comes to travel, but this was … Read More