In Love in Tbilisi (or Maybe Just Drunk)

✍️ 🕑 Late January 2016 • Tags: GeorgiaTbilisibarsgood eatsalcoholjob searchingeta dayseta days • Places: Tbilisi Mtskheta

This memory from the archive is intended to serve as a Valentine’s Day post – mostly because somewhere along the way, someone else tells me that I am in love. Were they right?


It was winter in early 2016.

I was on vacation from teaching, and traveled abroad. I got the flu, and I returned home. I recovered, and somehow, winter break was still happening. Faced with time, but fewer funds, I realized I could still go exactly where I really wanted to. East.

I bought a second grey colored thermal shirt from the corner grocery store, put my waterproof boots back on, and again bought a bus ticket from Turkey to Georgia….

A preview of where I'd be going: Tbilisi, Georgia
A preview of where I'd be going: Tbilisi, Georgia open_in_full   info

Along the Way to Kagan Bay

✍️ 🕑 • Series: Towards the Beautiful Islands • Tags: beachesRecreation SitesHaida GwaiiGraham Islandwaterfallsinsect photography • Places: Rennell Sound Recreation Site Bonanza Beach Riley Creek Trailhead Kagan Bay Recreation Site

The trajectory I had ahead of me was clear. The previous evening I felt compelled to trade Agate Beach for Bonanza Beach, to travel from Naikoon to the Rennell Sound.


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I knew that I wanted to make the most of my day and see as many beautiful sights as I could near Graham Island’s rugged west coast. I also knew that I needed to make my way to Sandspit by the following morning for a tour of Gwaii Hanaas.

And so I meandered back from the Rennell Sound, towards Dajing Giids and Kagan Bay.

Donate To Earthquake Relief in Turkey & Syria

✍️ 🕑 TurkeySyriafelaketnatural disasterstake action

By now, I imagine you’re aware of the devastating earthquakes that struck a few days ago near Gaziantep, Turkey. The affected area is huge and monstrous. So far, the count of the dead across Turkey and Syria exceeds 20,000 people, a number that is absolutely inconceivable to me.

When I lived in Turkey, I lived outside of the affected areas. But I visited them. I couchsurfed in them.

I had many students whose families were from those areas. Many of them, I haven’t kept in contact with, but there are some whose social media accounts have gone silent, leading me to fear the worst.

I always enjoy the fantasy of meeting again. Crossing paths with a friendly former student with an infectious love for Adana’s football team. He’s okay, though in his words, “the situation is so scary here.”

But there are others with silent social media accounts, and no replies. I’d love to meet again with another former student, a bright-eyed entrepreneur, doing her best to run an independent English school in Antep. Her school was located so close to the citadel, a castle that stood for 2,000 years without crumbling like it did a few days ago. Her social media is silent. My message has no reply. That’s all I know. We might not meet again in this life.

And then, there are people who I crossed paths with, who showed me incredible kindness over the years. Is the religion teacher who insisted on paying for my sandwich in Maraş okay? How about the couchsurfing hosts whose accounts disappeared from the internet, and phone numbers from my phone?

I will probably never know.


Survivors need shelter and aid from frigid winter temperatures. I encourage readers to donate to help with earthquake relief.

The most central link I’ve found, with a group of organizations seeking donations, allowing people to report that they need help, providing gathering places, etc. is this page of links. Please donate if you are able.

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with any of these organizaitons.

Annette Lake At Last!

✍️ 🕑 • Tags: lakeswaterfallssnowy hikesice • Places: Annette Lake

As befits a post with “At Last!” in the title, I’m actually writing about a hike I did last November. Yay

Back when I was discussing where to go backpacking with mom, the trail to Annette Lake was a real contender. The problem was, the trail closed for renovations/reconstruction a few days before we planned to go backpacking. And, it didn’t re-open until late November…

When I returned to Washington State from my journey to Suriname, I was surprised to find that the skies were clear. There was an unusual, week long stretch of no rain. It was so uncharacteristic of the wet, foggy Washington winter I was expecting. Naturally, I wanted to go for a hike. Seeing as the trail to Annette Lake had recently reopened it seemed like a fun choice.


It was a clear, sunny afternoon -- this is just the view from the trailhead.
It was a clear, sunny afternoon -- this is just the view from the trailhead. open_in_full   info

Wishing & Wandering

2022 & January 2023 In Review

✍️ 🕑 January 2023 • Series: Month in Review52 Frames • Tags: New Yearsfilm photographylife updatesferriesmuseums


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Brace yourself, reader.

Since last December, I’ve been quite busy, and it’s time for me to share a bit of what I’ve been up to. This post is extra long, because I’m also sharing my reflection on the year 2022, which I probably should have posted at the beginning of the month, but whatever.

We’ve also got four weekly photography challenges, some tunes that I like, and a plethora of links for other things that you can read elsewhere.

Called to the Sunset

✍️ 🕑 • Series: Towards the Beautiful Islands • Tags: beachessunsetsdeerspiritualityRecreation SitesHaida GwaiiGraham IslandGraham Island • Places: Rennell Sound Recreation Site Bonanza Beach


Image On Where-Is-Steve
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Image On Where-Is-Steve
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After a memorable morning walk, and a visit to Masset and Old Masset, I returned to my campsite. I was looking at the number of days I had ahead of myself, and thought about the possible things I could do.

I had recently realized that the Haida Gwaii Museum was closed on Sunday, and so my goal of visiting it was unlikely to work out. Perhaps this wasn’t the time to visit Dajing Giids after all.

Something in the Agate Beach Campground didn’t speak to me, and something in my soul, in my intuition, or a voice from somewhere just told me that I ought to leave and go elsewhere. I wasn’t sure where the elsewhere was yet, but there were a number of other camping spots on Graham Island or Moresby Island, and I figured it would be better to drive down towards one of them now, then to get up early, pack my stuff, and have to drive in the morning.

In the Beginning...

✍️ 🕑 • Series: Towards the Beautiful Islands • Tags: Naikoon Provincial Parkbeachesspitssacred placescreation storiesHaida GwaiiBald Eagle • Places: My Parking Spot on North Beach Rose Spit

I wanted to get up early and visit Rose Spit. I wanted to be there alone. I wanted to feel like I was in the place where the Haida were created.

Destiny was on my side. I had somehow misplaced the pump to my air mattress, and slept somewhat uncomfortably. I woke uncomfortably early, gave myself a charlie horse, and decided it was a sign that it was time for me to get moving.

I would see how far along the shore my four wheel drive station wagon could take me…