When the fog lifted and I saw the landscape, I almost cried. The change in scenery was that dramatic. Along the side of the road, there were a handful of red ravines cutting through the taupe earth. The desert, dotted with sage brush, stretched for miles on both sides of the road. To the west,…
Category: Dear Diary
Compassion Begins with Seeing
It’s a rainy Thursday morning in Austin, Texas. Yesterday I booked two more nights here. With the rainy forecast, I’m kinda regretting that decision. My Airbnb host told me about a nonprofit project, Community First! Village, on the outskirts of town. It’s a community of tiny homes and RVs designed to provide housing, employment, services,…
Ungodly Early and Out of Practice
It’s 5:30 am. It’s still dark out. For no reason in particular, I’ve been up since 3:30. Unable to fall back asleep, I scrolled whatever it is that I scroll on my phone for an hour. Unable to fall back asleep, I got up. I turned on the dim overhead light. I sat at the…
Dirty Clothes, Cluttered Mind
This busy mind shouldn’t surprise me. I tried to read some poetry this morning and instead thought about where I would go today – Barton Springs, downtown, South Congress…? Two nights ago someone told me to check out SoCo (South Congress). I’ve since been told not to call it SoCo. I’ll sound like a douche…
Everything’s Bigger in Texas (Dallas Sucks Edition)
Being from the Philadelphia area, there’s a natural inclination among my kin and my kind to be against Dallas, TX. Weyerbacher Brewing in Easton, PA has a pale ale called Dallas Sucks. When I posted a picture of Dallas to Facebook, my friend commented, “Dallas Sucks.” … and, of the cities I’ve visited so far,…
In the Company of Others
On this trip around the country, I’ve met up with a few people through dating apps. It’s a good way to meet locals and it can break up the monotony of sitting at bars and staring at screens. Despite trying to live as though I have all of the time in the world (my minor…
Morning Crankies, Nothing Enlightening
It’s early and I’m hungry. A distinct advantage to being at home as opposed to being on the road is that when I wake up at 4:30 and can’t fall back asleep, I can make coffee and breakfast. Here in the hotel room, I can make coffee, but no breakfast. For some reason, I thought…
Travel (and Live) Like an Optimist
The Life Cereal commercial from my youth had the memorable quote “He likes it! Hey Mikey!” The premise of the commercial is that Mikey doesn’t like anything which makes him the perfect test subject for his brothers’ skepticism of this new, healthy cereal, Life. Despite this blog’s many lamentations and complaints, I have many many…
Are We There Yet?
Quite often, this trip is my Jekyll and Hyde, my Yin and Yang. Frustration and despair followed by joy and delight. For a few hours yesterday (and some of this morning), I was paralyzed by indecision. I was ready to give up and go home (though where that is, I can’t quite specify). I spent…
Unexpected Bursts of Joy
No sooner did I “complain” about treating my body like a frat house (as opposed to the temple that it should be), I found my way into a Kansas City dive bar where they had live music. I drank a few beers, and ate a meatloaf sandwich. Perhaps this isn’t the leg of the trip…
Leaving St. Louis
The morning sun shines on the Gothic cathedral outside of my hotel window. For days, it’s been gray, cool, and windy in St. Louis. This morning, the temperatures are in the low 40s with wind chills in the 30s. I’m not ready for cold weather. Soon enough, I’ll head south, but today I head west…
A Shaky Start in St. Louis
Typing the words “Leadership Team Development” into Google, the first suggested autocomplete adds on the words “pyramid scheme.” That’s the “summit” that’s taking place near my hotel in St. Louis. I know they use the word summit because it was explained to me by a participant. They have quarterly meetings, but the summit is the…