Into the Woods

North America at sunset in New York, winter solstice. Click here for high-resolution version. Maps are fascinating. But maps also are highly deceptive. That’s because there is no way to represent the surface of a sphere on a flat piece of paper without distortion. Today is the winter solstice, when the earth’s northern hemisphere is […]

Here’s my video from last month’s hiking trip on the Isle of Lewis and Harris. I decided not to add a music soundtrack to this video. You’ll hear what the camera heard — mostly wind and water. This is a high-definition video, but you should be able to select lower definition in the toolbar if […]

I’m off to Scotland with my camera and walking stick. I’ll return to blogging the last week of August. The destination this year will be the Outer Hebrides — the islands of Lewis and Harris. I’ll also have a couple of days in Edinburgh and a day in Oxford. On the way to the west […]

Lily often snuggles up beside me while I’m watching a movie on the television. She rarely pays attention to what’s on, though. She hates loud soundtracks. The only two things I’ve watched in the past few months that held her attention were “Watership Down” and “Kedi,” on the cats of Istanbul. “Kedi” is a documentary, […]

How many people know lots and lots of knots, know just what knot is needed for a particular situation, and know how to tie it? Not many people, I’d imagine. One of the many things you can find on the Internet is just the knot you need, with instructions on how to tie it. I […]