Dove grey harbor dayBlogging then some wanderingFind the Steam Clock! Now! Yes, I realize that in the previous two posts, I appear to have jumped directly from Five Sails to Botanist. Why? Because the intervening day stubbornly refused to become a coherent narrative. Between one Michelin starred restaurant and another, there was an entire day. […]
Author: Sandy
Botanist
Crows watched overheadA promise found its harborAn extra place set I arrived at Botanist about fifteen minutes early. (Okay, okay, after the rest of the day, I was expecting to get to the venue, a block away, via Singapore.) The hostess offered me a choice. I could wait at the bar, or I could browse […]
Keeping A Promise
Harbor sunset glowsA promise waits patientlyPast the turning years More than a decade ago, H and I spent our 10th anniversary in Vancouver. Like many couples celebrating an anniversary on a bit of a budget, we spent a certain amount of time looking at things we couldn’t quite justify. The Pan Pacific Club Floor. A […]
Arrival
Evening mountain glowA sword and one lonely shoeOh, Canada, eh? After several weeks of planning, packing, re-packing, contingency planning, worrying about sword cases, worrying about airports, worrying about trains, worrying about whether I had forgotten something important, and generally behaving exactly like someone about to leave for a week-long trip with a samurai sword, I […]
The Packing Tornado
There was a period of approximately twenty years during which my husband Herbert and I prepared for every trip in exactly the same way. Herbert packed. I did not. This is not entirely accurate. I eventually packed. But first there was a process. The process generally began the evening before departure. At 4:17 p.m., Herbert […]
Map Folded Again
Gentle traveler seventy years beside her map folded again Dr. James E. Shepard, M.D., F.A.C.P., beloved husband, father, grandfather, physician, traveler, and lifelong student of the world, passed away peacefully at the age of 92. Born in Franklin, New Hampshire, Jim combined a sharp intellect, deep curiosity, and gentle humor throughout his life. He was […]
Travel Angels
Lost! Panic begins . . .That shortness of breath, then dread . . .Kindness appearing My father used to call them “Travel Angels.” Not guardian angels in the theological sense. More like: unexpected humans who appear precisely when travel has started unraveling around you. He encountered them often. Partly because he traveled frequently. But also, […]
Thermonuclear Corgis (in Sweaters)
Cold station platform thermonuclear corgis snuggle in my gloves I have been slowly purchasing items for both my Fall and Winter Japan trips on Amazon. After reading reviews, I intended to buy “a few” Korean warming pads to test for Winter Japan. What arrived instead was a surprisingly dense box containing thirty thermonuclear lava corgis. […]
Living Continuity — the Volcano, the Barge, the Sword, the Tea, the Candles
There is a thread I keep discovering in my life that I did not consciously plan. Not travel.Not tourism.Not “bucket list” behavior. Something quieter. Participation. Or maybe more precisely: A desire to briefly enter living traditions. Not to master them. Simply to touch them honestly for a little while. That realization arrived sideways, the way […]
Japan Objects
I think the objects knew before I ever did where we all would go After I wrote the Ariats post, several people messaged me some version of: “Only you could turn boot shopping into an existential archaeology project.” This is fair. But I have been realizing something lately. Something adjacent to the boots, but perhaps […]