Category: Travel

  • Phones No More

    Phones No More

    I had a wonderful weekend away at Bear Creek Camp, the Lutheran church camp I’ve been connected to in various ways for my entire life. My family and I went there for a special “Labor Day Family Camp,” an event I last attended in 1987 or so. Wow. That’s a long time. Anyway, while I…

  • Unknown Paths: Another Afternoon of Labyrinths

    Unknown Paths: Another Afternoon of Labyrinths

    This is the fifth part of a series about a trip I took to western New York, something of a pilgrimage, to find and walk labyrinths. If you missed them, click here for Part One, Part Two, Part Three, and Part Four. I walked four labyrinths on Saturday morning, and dealt with some questions about…

  • Listening for Voices: Another Morning of Labyrinths

    Listening for Voices: Another Morning of Labyrinths

    This is the fourth part of a series about a trip I took to western New York, something of a pilgrimage, to find and walk labyrinths. If you missed them, click here for Part One, Part Two, and Part Three. I woke up bright and early Saturday in my hotel room in Rochester, grabbed some…

  • Hidden God, Fading Light: An Afternoon of Labyrinths

    Hidden God, Fading Light: An Afternoon of Labyrinths

    In my last blog post, I shared the four labyrinths I walked this morning in the Buffalo, New York region. In the afternoon, I walked another four. These four walks don’t tell a cohesive story in the same way, but I’d still like to tell you about them. After a nice coffee break at Tim…

  • Timing is Everything: A Morning of Labyrinths

    Timing is Everything: A Morning of Labyrinths

    Today is the second day of a road trip I’m taking to western New York. I spent most of the day yesterday driving through the rain, and thinking about what I would be doing the rest of this trip. My goal is to find, and walk, labyrinths. By the end of yesterday, I knew that…

  • After the Storm

    After the Storm

    This morning I left my house, not knowing where I was going. All I knew was this: I was going to head north on a particular state highway, at least at first. I was probably going to drive all day. This was the first day of a several-day trip. One of the goals of this…

  • Snapshots of My Depression #13: Persona in Progress

    Snapshots of My Depression #13: Persona in Progress

    This is one in a series of posts I’m calling “Snapshots of my Depression.” These are memories of times in my life when my mental illness manifested itself in one way or another. I can remember sitting at a table outside a restaurant in Atlanta, Georgia, browsing through a document I’d printed out a few…

  • The Hole in the Sky

    The Hole in the Sky

    So how can I describe the experience of viewing a total solar eclipse? Not with pictures, I fear. I didn’t bother trying to get any photos of the sun, because it just wasn’t worth it: with a point and shoot or a smartphone, the photos wouldn’t hold a candle to the professional ones that are…

  • Labyrinth #15: Grace Episcopal Church, Hopkinsville, KY

    Labyrinth #15: Grace Episcopal Church, Hopkinsville, KY

    I enjoy walking labyrinths. Labyrinths are maze-like structures that have been used as spiritual tools for centuries. There are many of them around, and I am in the habit of trying to visit a lot of them. For more information about labyrinths, check out The Labyrinth Society.  I’m in Hopkinsville, Kentucky with my daughter in…

  • I Have Walked the Sign of the Cross

    I Have Walked the Sign of the Cross

    Something just occurred to me. While I was at the retreat at Holy Cross Monastery two weeks ago, I had this really brief vision. I saw an image of a map of all the places I’ve lived, and I saw that by connecting those places with lines, it formed the shape of a cross. So…