Off the trail
Because I’m not just a walking and running machine.
This weekend I got frustrated by the lack of easy-to-find and up-to-date national- and state-level coronavirus trends. Specifically: How many cases and deaths have been reported each day? And, What is the rate of change? So I created my own, using data from the New York Times, which they’ve made publicly available on Github and…
Almost as predictably as the leaves turning color and the days getting shorter, Amanda and I normally reach a marital low point each fall. Amanda feels lonely and ignored for most of the summer while I’m physically gone or emotionally preoccupied with guided and private trips. And when I return, I crave personal time so…
Five years ago I bought the second-generation Samsung Chromebook 2 for business travel. Versus my primary machine — at the time, a conventional Windows laptop — the Chromebook was: Half the size and weight, Quieter and cooler, Faster at startup (8 seconds!), and Less expensive to replace if it was damaged or stolen. It proved…
Thirty-three years ago my parents moved to 51 Donald Lewis Drive in Seekonk, Mass. — along with their three kids, ages 7, 5, and 2 — and on Monday put this classic Colonial on the market. With this post I’m not trying to help their sale, but simply mark a milestone as I occasionally do…
Today my father, Robert (“Bob”) Skurka, finishes a 44-year thru-hike of the banking services industry. Like most long walks through the wilderness, his career gave him purpose and identity, and included both peaks and valleys. I’m unconvinced that he’ll take to a conventional retirement — to an even greater degree than his successor, he quickly gets restless —…
Last October I was tagged on Instagram in the post below, by a handle I didn’t recognize, Ultralight Jerk. Despite being the punchline, I thought it was funny and creative, as were the other dozen posts that were live at that time. Ultralight Jerk has continued to plug away, and now has nearly 3,000 followers. I…
This series of keyboard & mouse reviews may seem off-topic, but please consider the hundreds of hours that I spend each month tapping away at my desk. It’s worth finding good ones. In December I replaced my six year-old HP laptop, which had outlived its expected service life by at least 2x. It was showing…
Most winters Amanda and I make a weekend getaway to Estes Park, Colo., the eastern gateway town to Rocky Mountain National Park. It’s only an hour away and doesn’t require driving on congestion-prone I-70. Room rates are cheap, especially Sunday through Thursday, because it’s the slow season. And it offers quick access to big mountain terrain…
I first met Ken Oelkers in March 2005, seven months into the Sea-to-Sea Route. His beloved Superior Hiking Trail was buried under feet of snow, and he understandably was looking for an excuse to keep him out of the house and close to the trail after a long winter in Silver Bay, Minnesota, a small blue-collar…
While at the library a day or two after the election, I added to my pile The Gilded Rage: A wild ride through Donald Trump’s America, by Alexander Zaitchik. I did so with reservations, wondering if I had the heart for more election coverage. But Gilded Rage sounded more colorful than exit polls and less filtered…
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