I suppose the great majority of Americans in the modern era have grown up in relationship with the interstates. With the exception of those living in extremely urban or extremely rural places, residents of the Lower 48 are seldom truly far from a tie-in to the seemingly endless web of superhighways that ties the country together, with its accompanying...
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As someone who has transitioned from reading a paper copy of the Arizona Daily Sun to the wan substitute of flipping its pages on my laptop while drinking my morning coffee, I was interested a couple of weeks ago to note that two entire virtual pages were taken up by a text-heavy announcement from our friendly local electricity provider. Arizona Public...
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Sometimes a long walk is in order, not least for those who make a habit of inquiring about humanity’s proper place in the world. “This is my master’s library, where he keeps his books, but his study is out of doors,” William Wordsworth’s servant is supposed to have said to a visitor to the poet’s house in the Lake Country of England. Fair enough. But...
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At first glance it was apparent that the Englishman was a far more serious cyclist than any of us. He wore a skin-tight body suit emblazoned with a heraldic red rose icon and the word “Lancashire” in huge letters. His bike was sleek, expensive, and immaculately outfitted with state-of-the-art panniers, and he had the slightly mincing walk that cyclists...
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The sight of a giant smoke plume on the horizon is one of those sights that I regard as quintessential Arizona. Having never encountered wildfire before I moved to the state, the idea that a swath of forest or grassland could suddenly be turned to charcoal and ash and threaten towns and lives was new and scary and fascinating all at once. So when I was...
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