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Oh yes, the Petrified Forest National Park has been on my must-visit list for years, and my recent scenic drive tour has only conjured up plans for a re-visit to backpack the backcountry overnight and hike some of the incredible trails. The park was initially dedicated in 1906 and became a National Park in 1962. The 28-mile scenic drive gives each visitor the visual excitement … Continue reading “Petrified Forest National Park.”
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We do not celebrate wisdom, because it comes with age. Many fear age while never garnering its wisdom. Youth spends money wisdom filled people would not consider. Youth is the fertile ground for what can be obtained on credit, i.e., time. Time builds wisdom by living or suffering through life. Age is celebrated while reminiscing about younger days. Age and wisdom is hope for waking … Continue reading “Age and Wisdom.”
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Usually, on the weekends mostly during the morning hours, a hiking trail fills with groups of people flaunting their newly purchased hiking and backpacking gear. These groups move along in packs of ten or more resembling a social bubble with verbal noise drowning out the beauty of songbirds chirping from the trees above. Many within the group will fail to absorb the essence and serenity … Continue reading “Appreciating natural surroundings.”
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My travel aura was projecting as I sat reading about my next destination inside my vehicle at an eastbound I-10 rest-stop in East Texas. Actually, it was my Florida tags Jess Duran observed who greeted me with a hearty “good morning and our conversation continued for the next hour or more about our travels past and future. Jess is a lifelong Los Angeles Dodgers fan and … Continue reading “Travel destinations and tours.”
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I have witnessed unbelievable angry tantrums by toddlers, children, teenagers, and adults. But, during an incredibly beautiful wedding, I watched as a 5’4″, 180-pound, grey-haired woman, with red lipstick, crimson rouge applied to her cheeks appearing to be in her late eighties was slowly escorted into the church on the arm of who I later learned was her grandson. She used a cane painted blue … Continue reading “Astonished tantrum.”
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Ms, Charlotte Wetzler, was seated on the main stage, looking out upon well over 500-hundred guests who are her former students and the recipients of her 42- years of teaching eight and ninth grade American and World history. Accompanying the stage with Ms. Wetzler are members of her school’s administration, School board members, politicians and the master of ceremonies along with the keynote guest speaker … Continue reading “Vaguely bestowed history.”
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Capturing sunrise photos while stopped at the “Sols Cliff scenic overlook with views of Bar Harbor Maine from inside Acadia National Park. The crisps winds of an early September cold weather front, caused my eyes to tear and blur my exquisite views leaving only the distant ocean waves sounds lapping against the shore for my senses to consume. Wiping my eyes, I feel at peace … Continue reading “Authentic Migrations.”
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On a cold rainy spring day, I toured several critical locations in the city of Mongomery Alabama which is ground zero of the Civil Rights Era in America. In 1877 the Dexter St. Baptist Church was founded when congregants moved from the First Colored Baptist Church in Montgomery Al. In 1954, at 26-years of age, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr was chosen and assigned as … Continue reading “Montgomery Alabama.”
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Our family, our children, forty years we made. The mind-numbing daily routine we made. Our separate sleeping bedrooms we agreed. Because of commitments, our love has become veiled from one another, allowing our hearts to become etched hallowed caves. Our separate cars to attend church we agreed. Our time for one another is thwarted with hobbies and volunteer positions and we reflect our emotions without … Continue reading “Our timeless love.”
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The daily WordPress word prompt inspires thoughtful, creative writing ideas based on the WordPress user’s past experiences with the word which can hold various meanings and definitions. The word churn, cause me to think of the word grind. Let me explain, the word “churn” based on my history holds significant connotations, when my high school football coach used the word “churn,” as a reference to players moving their … Continue reading “Churn or grind.”
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From the time, I saw her from across the dance floor, I was tranced into seeing them closer. Standing in front of her, I was awakened by her voice with my mouth opened breathing heavy, I was mesmerized by a uniquely beautiful pair of eyes. When I spoke, I was happy with her politeness in the presence of what caught my eye. Her name … Continue reading “Radiant eyes.”
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Attending a funeral, a retirement gathering, a college or high school graduation, of a family member or friend allows for personal self-reflection. Your thoughts peel away layers of life’s reality igniting and stirring emotions, to bring tears to your eyes similar to peeling layers of an onion. Life is similar to the layers of an onion when reaching the center lies the heart, filled with hope for a … Continue reading “Layers upon layers of hope.”
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Since Feb I have enjoyed and settled into the Florida warmth, and because of cold temperatures, I used my backpacking pants’ less than a week. As March winds to an end, my mind repeatedly drifts to traveling the roads in the vast western US and hiking/backing treelined canopy trails. Although my focus has been to complete a short story novel for self-publication my various editors … Continue reading Betrayed and frantic, I think not!”
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The weekly photo challenge asks the question where would you rather be. The following photos reveal where I would rather be as photography allows for the repeated return to moments when the original photo was taken, over and over and over forever. Within the past two years, I have traveled to many different locations around the US as seen in these photos and each … Continue reading “I’d Rather Be.”
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Every day since forever, I have seen you, and we are identical twins. I look into your eyes, and I see the mirror image of me. I have seen pictures of you, and you look like me. Your cheekbones, lips, eyebrows, and chin are all like mine. We are identical twins? As far back as I can remember, I dreamed of a brother or sister. … Continue reading “Identical.”
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Casandra entered the room, and I could not make eye contact, She walks past my table, and I look down at my paper, I sensed a connection, but I’m too shy to speak. Brian will not notice me when I walk into the classroom. He will not acknowledge me with eye contact. I walk past him, and I sense a connection. Twenty-seven years later inside … Continue reading “Blushed.”
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I can remember as far back as a kindergartener, hearing my mother, father, siblings, friends, and teachers, telling me, or writing in the margins of a report card, “Slow Down.” On many occasions throughout my life, I was told I need to develop and hopefully discover some patience. “Slow down,” is the repetitive word I knew more than anything throughout my life. After I retired, … Continue reading “The wisdom of patience.”
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As the days of March wind down and I continue editing, re-editing and repeating the process of my short stories. The recent cold weather in Southwest Florida provoked a wrinkle in my ability to sit outside and write. So, I traded in my shorts, tank top, and flip-flops for my long pants and long sleeve shirt. The feel of the cloth around my arms and … Continue reading “Time to return to the trails.”
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During my lifetime of travel along the back roads, my reason to stop is best described as “distracted.” by what my eyes witness and I want to learn and discover the details of my initial distraction. I developed this type of travel during my twenty-five plus years of riding my touring motorcycle across the US wandering from one small town to another. (PS: Motorcycle Memoirs … Continue reading “Meander.”
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Suddenly there is no sound of the trail, but I feel and hear my heart pounding after my climb to summit the small peak of 2500 feet. My breathing slows matching the calmness surrounding me, and I pause to absorb the silence. I have replaced my forty hour work week noises of voices, car horns honking, rolling tire along the asphalt streets with the un-nerving … Continue reading “Suddenly there is no sound.”
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Our parents, families, and friends say we are too young to know love. We both wish and desire a love we neither know of or have ever experienced, yet, we have said “I love you” to one another unknown of loves potential and power. I believe we share a love for one another that feels like the wind blowing over out bodies from atop … Continue reading “Defining our love.”
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My plan for the day was to set up somewhere along the beach to write and read all day on a picnic bench under a shelter looking out onto the Gulf of Mexico. My location today is called the “Little Hickory Island Beach Park” located in Bonita Springs FL 34134. The park is a sliver of land with less than thirty parking spaces, two public bathrooms … Continue reading “A Grey Nomads Gap Years.”
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I want to start the first day of March 2018 with a cheerful hello to all of the followers of this site. For the next 30-days or so I’m developing a short story novel which I’m continually re-writing to my satisfaction and a submitting to a professional editor for critique. For the past year or more I have been the beneficiary of unique serendipity, that … Continue reading “Self-publishing courage.”
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At the beach, or in the park, the morning blend of sites and sounds coupled with the warm sunrise temperatures to sooth the skin adds to the beauty of the day ahead,. Sparrows, warblers, and finches chirp with enthusiasm along with the morning doves cooing to one another adding to the softness of the morning as I watch them fly around upon soft, warm breezes. The morning walkers, … Continue reading Astral Congregation
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As a caterer with twenty-two years in the business, I love the quote “Eating is a necessity, cooking is an art.” I once prepared dinner for 50-people, who attended an exceptionally elaborate wedding reception where everyone dressed in expensive named brand clothing like Chanel, Burberry, Hermes, Prada, Gucci, and Ralph Lauren. One of the guests, pulled me aside to tell me. “I love the flavor … Continue reading “Encrusted.”
Experiments in Nomadism, Minimalism and Ecocentrism
A publication by Northern Arizona University's MFA Program
Across the ocean and back with Nicki Chen
MY TALES TO TELL :)
"Those who do not move, do not notice their chains."
Where to go, how to get there, and what to see...follow me for a lifelong adventure
Traveller, Londoner, Blogger
A place where the soul speaks in an unprecedented voice
Leave Only Footprints
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