Categories
Observations The USA Walkaholic

Barbecue Sauce and the US Army Corps of Engineers

With spider season in full swing my new favorite place to walk is Jordan Lake Dam. The trails behind our house are off limits as far as I’m concerned. Even if I swing a stick in front of me, I end up with spiders in my hair and webbing on my arms and legs. So […]

Categories
Observations Travel

The Golden Rule of Travel Diplomacy

“Duì bù qi! Duì bù qi!” Ann shouted imperiously, pointing to a row of taxis and staring at a group of drivers eating rice in the shade of a tree. It was a hot day and she had generously offered to take me shopping. I appreciated that she was showing me the ropes in my […]

Categories
Food Kumasi Observations Our Life Shopping

Not in Ghana

Sometimes I wake up and think for a moment I’m still in Kumasi but that notion vanishes as soon as I begin listening to the sounds of the pre-dawn day. You know you’re not in Ghana anymore when: The first pre-dawn sounds are tires on asphalt, not half a dozen roosters Its freezing outside and […]

Categories
Observations The USA

A Woman in the House

When I was a kid, there was a woman in nearly every house. Their children ran together in packs, laughing and getting bruised. We played baseball, football, cops and robbers, cowboys and indians and “Who Dies the Best,” an East Coast version of hide and seek. We rode our bikes and skateboards without helmets, climbed […]

Categories
Observations On Winter The USA

Sakachilan

On Wednesday we woke to a Winter Wonderland in North Carolina – snow blanketed lawn and dozens of birds queued up for birdseed at the two feeders outside our office window. Cardinals brilliant against the white sky, perched in the leafless willow oak. Every now and then a car hums by on the icy road […]