A Day Off
The most deceptive truth of being self-employed is that you can take time off whenever you want. The harsh reality behind it is that, pretty much, you never do. Being […]
Wintering
We’ve got two weeks to go until the solstice, but tonight, at these latitudes, is the earliest sunset of the year. Last night, in the dark before the waning moon […]
…and None to Go
The law is a bit imprecise on these things, but by my reckoning, at the moment the clock struck midnight and rolled into this new morning, Devon and I (both […]
Winter’s Call
It’s been almost two months (two months!) since I’ve been back – work, travel, family and the usual exigencies of life – and in that time, autumn has swept entirely […]
New Story: Invention #8
“Look — there.” You pointed to the corner where folded bleachers abutted a small stage, at the base of which was a battered upright piano. I looked, not understanding, and you pulled […]
Duluth?!? Duluth!
Greetings from Duluth. Duluth? Yeah, Duluth. A week ago I was finishing up on the ship in Punta Arenas, and all I knew about Duluth was that it was way […]
Tales Not Told
Last night we stood on the bow, squinting out in waning dusk for the Cuernos – the Horns – of Torres del Paine. They were out there to the east, […]
Inside Passage
We’re halfway down Chile’s equivalent of the Alaskan inside passage, threading our way through the archipelago that cuts Chilean Patagonia off from the rest of the country. Chile itself is […]
An (Almost) Uneventful Arrival
Hang on. This visually-evocative musing has been preempted by another, much-less probable one in which I’m riding in the back of a car driven by two total strangers – both beautiful women, by the way – with a mounted police escort of two motorcycles, going the wrong way down the parade route of Valparaiso’s Festival of a Thousand Drums. And I’ve only been in town for what, like 15 minutes?…
Here, Now and Away
Today, on Erev Yom Kippur, the most solemn day for observant Jews, we are urged to search inside ourselves, to seek out and contemplate the questions that define us and our path forward in this life: “How have I fallen short this past year?” “How can I best use my life for the good of the world?” And, “You’re getting on an airplane for South America in less than 24 hours – why haven’t you even started packing?!?”
David Pablo Cohn 