Skip to content

Kana's Chronicles

Life in Kana-text (er… CONtext)

  • About Kana
  • Kana’s Archives
  • Kana’s Books

Category: Travel

A Signature Color

cartoon of a woman's bare feet on a beach, with toenails painted turquoise
November 25, 2025November 25, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 28 Comments

It was sometime in junior high or high school that my mom and my sister and I started the tradition of painting our toenails at the beginning of Spring Break vacations. We lived in a place where the snowbanks hadn't melted by March, so our toes wouldn't have seen the light of day since the … Continue reading A Signature Color

A Safe Bet

the writer at 18, setting up for certification dives
November 24, 2025November 24, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 13 Comments

Writing yesterday about the canoe trip my dad and I took together got me thinking about the other road-trip he and I took, five years later... The first thing I signed up for, when I hit college, was a course to get certified as a Scuba diver, because I planned to study Marine Biology. I … Continue reading A Safe Bet

The Daddy-Daughter Downpour

writer's dad standing iwht a canoe
November 23, 2025November 23, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 25 Comments

When our parents used to tuck us into bed at night, Mother usually sang something---they had a broad repertoire of folk songs---and Daddy was our stories guy. He had an ongoing saga about a pair of mischievous alligators, "the Lucys," who followed us on all our travels, getting into trouble as they tried to keep … Continue reading The Daddy-Daughter Downpour

Welcome to the Future

woman juggling a lot of things, with a phone in one hand
November 20, 2025November 21, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 12 Comments

Journal entry from December of the year 2000: I'm about to embark on a week-long sailing trip, and I'm agonizing over what book I feel like taking. It has to "fit the mood," it has to have at least the possibility of sparking poetry-writing... and it has to last the week. Correction: It has to … Continue reading Welcome to the Future

The State of the Sky

cartoon of an Amazon Echo on a shelf
November 19, 2025November 19, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 20 Comments

Alexa has a new voice this week. If you're not familiar, Alexa is the name of the imaginary person who speaks from the Amazon Echo, which is a small speaker connected to the internet. Alexa is very helpful in our household. We call out to her from the kitchen to add things to our grocery … Continue reading The State of the Sky

Beat to Hell

writer underwater in SCUBA gear
November 16, 2025November 18, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 10 Comments

It's only natural that most of us try to keep most of our possessions in unspoiled and "like-new" condition for as long as possible. We don't like it when our phone-screens get webbed with cracks, or the paint chips off our cars, or the knees go out in our jeans (well, maybe that's still fashionable … Continue reading Beat to Hell

Pirates of the London Underground

the "tube map," a schematic diagram of the London underground subway
November 15, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 12 Comments

This morning I listed some of the significant maps in my life, and there's another one that stands out in my memory: the London Tube Map! The Tube Map has been periodically updated, and stylistic flourishes added, but the basic design of this subway-diagram was created in 1933, by a smart fellow who realized that … Continue reading Pirates of the London Underground

Posts navigation

Older posts
Newer posts
Follow Kana's Chronicles on WordPress.com

199,175 hits

author on her sailboat

13 Adventure Backyard Homestead Barefoot Barter & Scrounge Biker Bipolar Blogging Books Camping & Fishing Cats Chickens Coffee Dragon Family Freelancing God's Humor Hawai'i Home Economics Idaho iPad Language Lists Marriage Mental Health Names Navigation Neighbors OCD Oregon Trail Owl Packing Prayer Reading Recovery RV Life Sail & Sea Sustainable Living Synchronicity Tattoos Technology Travel Turquoise Work Writing

Kana is reading…

  • About Kana
  • Kana's Archives
  • Kana's Books

"As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts."

~ Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

  1. Katherine Mary's avatar
    Katherine Mary on What is WRONG With People?June 9, 2026

    Okay, this post made me laugh and feel sorry for you at the same time. I'm also one of those…

  2. Katherine Mary's avatar
    Katherine Mary on In Which We Don’t Sail Into the SunsetJune 9, 2026

    Whoa, I absolutely love this post! (And that last photo is amazing — I love your nails, by the way.)…

  3. Bridget Malone's avatar
    Bridget Malone on If the Present is a Gift, so is the PastMay 28, 2026

    The past is left behind. But some people get stuck in the past.

  4. benmunya12's avatar
    benmunya12 on In Which We Don’t Sail Into the SunsetMay 19, 2026

    A Father’s Humble Appeal to My Readers and Friends Around the World Dear Readers, Friends, and Fellow Authors, I write…

  5. William's avatar
    William on In Which We Don’t Sail Into the SunsetMay 7, 2026

    I used to sail. Seemingly a long, long time ago. 20+ years ago since I last hoisted a sail, but…

"It is not down on any map; true places never are"

~ Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

What is WRONG With People? A Pain in the Neck If the Present is a Gift, so is the Past Cow Physiology 101 The “Year in Books” On the Palm Tree as an Antidepressant Untitled Dragon Biography The Christmas-Tree Trade-In
  • Hunting for Answers in Pink Camo: Why is it...
  • Freelance Job Opportunity!
  • Marginalia & Time-Travel
  • Amazing Grace, how sweet the SOUNDS
  • His Worst Week, His Best Week. Same Week.
  • Pushed Over the Edge?
  • Reprise: 'Blogger Call to Action'
  • RV Wintering
  • Looking for YA Reading Recommendations
  • Shifting Paradigms & Half a Pair'o'Dimes

"Not all those who wander are lost."

~J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Website Powered by WordPress.com.
Kana's Chronicles
Website Powered by WordPress.com.
  • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Kana's Chronicles
    • Join 2,731 other subscribers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Kana's Chronicles
    • Subscribe Subscribed
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar

Loading Comments...