In Paihia, in New Zealand’s Northland, local kids were having a grand time being blasted with pigment. This is a nod to India’s Holi Festival. Just over three weeks ago we flew from New Zealand’s South Island to the north of the North Island. With the subsequent rapid spread of COVID-19, three weeks seems like…… Continue reading Bay of Islands, New Zealand
Author: Tom Wilson
Balancing Coronavirus Risks
Every morning we read the New York Times, the Washington Post, and our local paper, the Star Tribune. We took out subscriptions to all three newspapers within days of the 2016 presidential election because we need to support good journalism to hold the US Administration accountable. Today, the news is uniquely disturbing. Most of us…… Continue reading Balancing Coronavirus Risks
Reducing Pathogen Transmission on Long Trips
A few years ago we arrived in Cairns, Australia, off a flight from Guam. Our backpacks alerted a friendly customs official we might be carrying hiking boots. We proudly showed our squeaky-clean boots (thanks, Dwight), but in the process she spotted our trail mix, which contained dried banana pieces. Dried bananas carry a pathogen that…… Continue reading Reducing Pathogen Transmission on Long Trips
On Golden Bay
We drove almost as far as we could to the northwest of New Zealand’s South Island to Golden Bay, named for the gold mining that took place here in the 19th century. Our VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) cabin stood on its own, above a beach, at the end of an unpaved road. En route,…… Continue reading On Golden Bay
Abel Tasman National Park
Until now, we’ve avoided Abel Tasman National Park on the north coast of New Zealand’s South Island: it’s just too popular. We prefer to even the tourist load and enjoy a quieter experience by visiting less popular “B-list” places. We would be passing right by Abel Tasman on our way to a remote VRBO (Vacation…… Continue reading Abel Tasman National Park
Queen Charlotte Track 2020
Last week we hiked the Queen Charlotte Track for the third time. Including a rest day we took five days to walk 72 kilometers along a well-engineered and maintained trail. This was a walk in the park, especially as our backpacks were transported ahead of us by boat. We took a boat to the start…… Continue reading Queen Charlotte Track 2020
A Week in Honolulu
The snow was piling up as we waited to ride the light rail to the airport. At Minneapolis/St. Paul MSP, snow-clearing crews were keeping ahead of the snow: across four departure boards, I saw only two cancellations, probably due to inbound cancellations. MSP, runway 30R, getting a good scrape from 20 graders driving in formation.…… Continue reading A Week in Honolulu
Getting a Head Start on Spring
Next in line for de-icing at Minneapolis/St. Paul MSP. Summer, fall, and the first few weeks of winter in Minnesota are wonderful. Also wonderful are the percussive sounds of a glycol/water mixture being sprayed at our plane in the depths of winter as we start a journey towards the tropics or a Southern Hemisphere summer.…… Continue reading Getting a Head Start on Spring
Guthrie Theater
Looking through sleet across Gold Medal Park to the Guthrie. It’s no accident the Guthrie Theater is close to our home. The theater moved to its current home in the Minneapolis Mill District in 2006 next to the Mill City Museum which had opened three years earlier. At the time, the choice of new location…… Continue reading Guthrie Theater
The Impossible Takes a Little Longer
Now that we have our indoor gardens on wheels fully operational it was time to think of technical refinements. Maintaining a log of actual water usage suddenly seemed like a good idea. I could think of several benefits of measuring water usage, including: Learn how much water is optimal for each plant so we can…… Continue reading The Impossible Takes a Little Longer