[Published in the Sep 2011 issue of Western Byways magazine... I thought I'd trot it out here as well.] Perched in the Owyhee Mountains at the center of 250 once-active gold mines, Silver City is often referred to as a ghost town--but that's not a description I recommend using within hearing of its residents. A … Continue reading Silver City, Idaho: a “Ghost Town” that Never Gave Up the Ghost
Tag: Navigation
Stand down the SWAT Team
A kindergartner might take a glacier's age to put on a single tennis shoe while mom impatiently rattles the car keys in the morning, but put the same kindergartner in a circle with 24 other 5-year-olds and a single tub of crayons, and they move too fast to clock. Like iron filings to a magnet, … Continue reading Stand down the SWAT Team
Sailor’s Knot, Compass Rose
Whenever I'm grappling with a difficult decision, my A.A. Sponsor asks me, "What does your gut tell you?" Usually I already know what course of action my “gut” is pointing me toward, but those instincts tend to solidify when she verbalizes them. "Listen to your gut--that's God talking," she tells me. Oh great...God talks to … Continue reading Sailor’s Knot, Compass Rose
In the Market for a Maker
“Get a God,” I hear repeatedly in the rooms of A.A. “If you don’t get God… You’re wrecked. Your own 'best thinking' got you here, so you'd better get God and follow directions.” I'm told my God can be anything, anything at all with power higher than my own—“hell, even a doorknob,” an old-timer smirks, … Continue reading In the Market for a Maker
Asia Market: Our In-Town International Trip
Not unlike an Embassy, our local Asia Market reminds me of a small piece of foreign country surrounded by American soil. I am, of course, The Foreigner there--but by now I've earned my visa and might no longer be considered a tourist.Friday mornings the produce comes in--all the vegetables you won't find at WinCo or … Continue reading Asia Market: Our In-Town International Trip
Travel Writing: our “Pirate Code” for the Road
[This post is featured as a "guest blog" at Clan Elves of the Bitterroots. Please stop by to check out their other authors!] Surely I have the world’s best job: I get to Travel, and I get to Write about it. My Travel Sidekick (a.k.a. Husband) and I have sketched out some “road rules” for … Continue reading Travel Writing: our “Pirate Code” for the Road
Byways & Bygones: Idaho’s “Old Oregon Trail Byway”
Engine idling in the middle of the desert, we contemplate the pockmarked metal sign in front of us. Military Range, it declares, adding the instruction that civilian vehicles are to keep to the main road. Which leaves us with a question--what is the definition, out here, of a "main road"? Off to the side, a … Continue reading Byways & Bygones: Idaho’s “Old Oregon Trail Byway”
Kana's Chronicles 