I love to travel. But every time I get on an airplane I know that my carbon footprint gets bigger. What exactly is a carbon footprint? It’s the measure of the amount of carbon dioxide – the man-made gas that is responsible for global warming and the greenhouse effect – that is emitted into the atmosphere as you go about your daily life. Almost everything you do affects it: turning on a coffee maker, driving a car, buying food, and most especially flying in an airplane.

Air travel accounts for about 3.5 percent of the human contribution to global warming. My travels have been especially egregious, because many of the places I visited required long flights, and many of my destinations were so remote that they could only be reached by plane. To balance this, I try to minimize my carbon footprint in all other areas of my life. I walk everywhere rather than driving, and when I must use the car Read the rest of this entry »

I came across this old convertible the other day while walking between my house and downtown Sarasota and it was so unique that I just HAD to snap a few photos: Read the rest of this entry »

Around this time every year I start to get the itch to travel. Unfortunately, more long-term travel is not possible until I sell my home in North Carolina and finish writing my book. In the meantime I’m scratching that itch by visiting interesting places around the Gulf Coast of Florida, where I now reside. Located on the bayfront just south of downtown Sarasota is the 9.5 acre Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, an oasis of serenity that overflows with exotic tropical plants and flowers. Its trails and boardwalks are worth a visit any time of year, but are even more interesting during one of their special events, such as this weekend’s Asian Cultural Festival.

This year’s Asian Fest featured displays of ikebana flower arrangements and sumi-e paintings, as well as demonstrations of origami paper folding, bonsai cultivation, Chinese brush paining, martial arts, and Tai Chi. Read the rest of this entry »

I often write about our threatened environment, much of which has been the result of our materialistic, consumption-driven society. But words can only be so descriptive; it is images that have the real power. Photographer Chris Jordan’s work is all about consumption. He has created intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs, many featuring disposable packaging related to food or drink. Check out the series below, a reproduction of a famous painting by Seurat, which has been created using photos of 106,000 aluminum cans, representing the number of cans used in the U.S. every thirty seconds: Read the rest of this entry »

I met a poet yesterday. From our adjacent chairs at Starbucks we struck up an easy conversation and discovered we shared a passion for writing. I have the greatest admiration for poets. In order to tell you why, I must share a secret. Many years ago – many many years ago – I dabbled in poetry. We’re talking high school, here. I wrote a series of poems in a ratty old spiral-bound notebook, stashed it away in some corner, and forgot all about it. A year or so ago, when I was preparing to move from North Carolina to Florida, I came across this tattered old notebook. I stopped what I was doing and sat cross-legged on the floor, reading every one of those poems. None of them are very good; most of them are downright dark and morose. In fact one of them is titled “Suicide” and goes on for pages about war and politics and a plethora of other dark subjects.

In actuality, the poem has nothing to do with the act of committing suicide; it is a commentary about the time in which I was living, the Vietnam War era. And this is the major reason that I am so fascinated by poetry. A poem can be interpreted on so many levels. We may think have discerned its meaning, but the only person who truly knows the poem’s meaning is the author. It’s a special treat to meet an author and learn the true meaning of a poem. In this case Read the rest of this entry »

I’m going to think twice before I ever again complain about the poor quality of TV programming in the U.S. The video below shows the newest game show craze in Japan. Ridiculous? Yes! But so ridiculous that it’s hysterically funny. I was sitting in the coffee shop when I watched it and started laughing so hard that everyone turned to look at me. I tried to stifle my laughter but then it started coming out in snorts and gurgles, which made it worse. I should have just turned the laptop screen around so everyone could have a good laugh. See for yourself:

I learned today of the death of my dear friend, Ron Wilcox. I met Ron last May as I was walking through the village of Pai in northern Thailand. I was standing at an intersection that didn’t appear on my map, puzzling as to which way to go, when he pulled up on his little red scooter and inquired, in his delightful Welsh accent, “Are you lost, luv?” Little did I know it then, but this was Ron’s modus operandi; he was always helping people. And although I wasn’t lost, I took him up on his offer to give me a lift and hopped on the back of his motor scooter. Five minutes later we were at his modest house, where I was introduced to his wife, Nicky, and his two year old daughter, Briony. As I munched on fresh-picked lychee fruit and drank steaming hot coffee, Ron regaled me with the story of how he came to live in Thailand. Upon retirement, he’d come for a short visit, met Nicky, and never left. He’s been helping the local people of northern Thailand ever since (you can read about some of his good works in one of my earlier posts, here).

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I’ve learned the hard way never to keep all my money in one place when traveling, not even when I have access to an in-room safe. On more than one occasion, my room safe has failed. In each instance, I was amazed how easily hotel staff could access a master key and how simply the safe was opened. So I spread the money around a little. Some stays in my wallet. Some goes in the safe, if one is available. But the rest gets stashed in strange and unusual places, like the following: Read the rest of this entry »

A few days ago I read an article about a 911 dispatcher in San Francisco who uses all her spare change to buy hats and gloves from secondhand stores. When she finishes her shift at midnight, she drives around the Tenderloin district and hands out the hats and gloves to the homeless.

Today I watched a video about folks who have started an organization in Peru that trains the handicapped to make jewelry, providing jobs for people who otherwise would be unemployable. (Check out the video here)

Each time I learn about a person or an organization that does this work, it makes me examine my life. What am I doing to help my fellow man? What am I contributing to society? I help people whenever I can but I always feel Read the rest of this entry »