Wildlife
Favorite Nonfiction for 2022
When it comes to nonfiction, my interests range widely. Perhaps because of the pandemic, this year’s best has some serious subjects, but each contributed to my understanding of life, how precious it is, and sometimes how elusive a good life can be. Of course I have included food, dogs, tennis, and thoughts on the over-privileged. I hope you’ll find something that interests you, too.
Life in a Pinball Machine
Thoughts on the past and plotting a way forward . . .This week includes another birthday and the end of a year that has been beyond anything we could have imagined. In my own way, I take stock.
BEST ROADS TRAVELED: Mexico’s Las Pozas – Jungle Fantasy
Outside the town of Xilitla in northern Mexico’s Sierra Gorda, a little known surrealistic architectural masterpiece rises out of the jungle, built by Edward James, an enthusiastic supporter of art and artists.
The Long Game: Elections, Cougars, and Strategy
Cougars know all about playing the long game. I am an older woman who learned decades ago the value of playing the long game, of understanding the advantages of being underestimated, of outlasting your opponents.
BEST ROADS TRAVELED: Junípero Serra’s Missions of the Sierra Gorda
“Oh, the bear went over the mountain . . . to see what he could see,” goes a campfire song of my girlhood—And I’ve been checking out the other side of mountains both real and imagined all my life.
The Spiritual Experience of Awe
Racing on skidoos across the frozen Arctic Ocean, tightly gripping the ropes tying down the pile of supplies we’d need for our expedition to the northern end of Baffin Island, I was awestruck.
The Search for Dignity in a World Gone Mad
Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah is an American award-winning essayist. She won a Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 2018 for her profile of white supremacist and mass murderer Dylann Roof, as well as a National Magazine Award.
Best Roads Traveled: Cairo, Egypt
Cairo has always been a destination that calls to travelers.
Memories of a Childhood Garden
It's time to leave my workday, measured in phone calls, computer screens, appointments, meetings and miles. I have promised myself time with my daughter.
Taking the Thunder Road
What are your daydreams? Queen of an alternative universe? Las Vegas showgirl? Whipping all comers at the U.S. Open?