In the 1970s, the slot canyons on the Navajo Reservation in northeastern Arizona were still relatively unknown to everyone except the Navajo. While visiting Antelope Canyon recently, I met a man from Tucson who said he visited Antelope Canyon in the 1970s. Twice. Fresh out of college, he went on a road trip by himself in his Volkswagen beetle. He stopped for gas and asked what there was to see in the area. He was told to go see “the skinny caves” by a Navajo man who worked in
From late November to early December, all Italian skiing areas begin to count down for the beginning of the ski season. If the snow arrives in advance, like this year, the ski resorts first open to the happiness of snowboarders and skiers who for 7 months are in a trepid wait.
Skiing is a tradition in Italy, if you live in the Alps and the Dolomites when you’re a kid it’s the norm to get up on Sunday at 6:00am, prepare skis and boots and leave for one of the many
We turned the corner of a long, dredged channel in the San Francisco Bay, which is just deep enough to accommodate the six foot keel of our double-masted sailboat. My boyfriend Tom cut the motor, and we hoisted a couple of sails, all ropes and winches, muscle and effort. The 41’ sailboat started to lean, catching the wind, pushing against the lines like a race horse ready for the track. In that moment, with our boat cutting through the water, I felt like I was somewhere far away
Dear you,
It’s a move to a written format.
This new format is not limited by letters, questions, fears, worries, or problems; rather, it is expanded by them.
Let me explain.
You might remember how, for a while, I had the honor of answering questions through an advice column called “Ask Natalie.” I fielded letters about back-country ethics and front-country relationships,
Man Woman Mountain
“The surest way to mend a broken heart is through a forest wilderness.”
–John Muir
On really confusing evenings of self, I like to drink beer and make up quotations that John Muir definitely did not write. I summon him like my own, personal break-up Yoda the moment a man threatens to rip the sticky, sensitive tissue of my heart to shreds. I need this. A stubborn, fantasy-ridden reminder that things can still be beautiful, even when they do not