A Novel Place

I have Susan and her keen hotel-finding skills to thank for allowing us to discover the remarkable Shakespeare & Company. From our room overlooking the Notre Dame Cathedral, the venerable bookseller was tucked in not so much as a stone’s throw away from us, but we didn’t know anything about it until a walk post …

I See Hawks In L.A.

The telltale alarm calls of the mating pair of mockingbirds nesting somewhere in the next-door-neighbors’ tree alerted me and could only mean one thing: a hawk was too close for their comfort. So of course with cam in hand I went outside to see if I could spot the trespassing raptor, and by tracking where …

Sorrento Snapshot

After a May 13 spent geographically bracketing Sorrento between the ruins of Pompeii and the beauty of Positano Susan and I returned to Sorrento to stroll through its old section over to the city’s cliffside overlook where I looked straight down and directly hundreds of feet below found this trio relaxing by the massive pilings …

Baum Drops In

So yesterday morning the phone rings and its neither a telemarketer nor some misdialer looking for whatever credit union has a phone number that’s one pesky digit different than mine. This is remarkable enough in its own right. But even more surprising I find the person I’m speaking to is basically The Dude of bicycling …

Moved To Tears

During our last few minutes in Ajjacio on the island of Corsica Susan and I strolled back along the waterfront to the ship and in doing so passed this monument, which grabbed a hold of my heart and very much to my surprise brought tears to my eyes, moving me unlike any other monument I’ve …