“The scariest moment is always just before you start.” — Stephen King’s “On Writing”
I’ve been thinking about that quote a lot recently. Because if the idea of sitting down to write scares an author who seems to exhale written words, it makes sense that right now I am terrified.
I’m about to begin an unpaid leave from the paper.
This isn’t because I’m going to stop writing. It’s because I’m going to start.
I’m taking this sabbatical to write a book.
Just seeing that sentence on my computer screen scares me.
I have a hard enough time piecing together 500 words...
Read more...
I began the final day of the year in a place that is a long way from a ball drop in Times Square.
It’s a place where people go to watch the sun rise and drop; a place that, according to data collected by sound experts, might be the quietest spot on Earth — the volcanic crater at Haleakala National Park in Maui.
I chose to end the year in Haleakala partly because it seemed like a natural bookend to the start of the year — a New Year’s Day sunrise in Acadia National Park in Maine — and partly because of the story behind the name (which means “House of the Sun”). According to ancient...
Read more...
I went to Tucson in November, to gather with my sisters at my mom's house for Thanksgiving. While there, I worked on the project, finally getting a peek inside a part of the National Park System that I had been been attempting to see all year: the Western Archeological and Conservation Center, a place containing millions of pieces of American history, shipped there from parks all over the West to be preserved and restored.
Getting a tour inside the nondescript building, located in an office park not far from downtown and typically not open to the public, was fascinating. And the story of some...
Read more...
When I began this year, trying to think about the future of the national parks, I struggled with how to approach the idea of technology and its effects. Not because technology won't affect the parks in the future, but because technology is changing so rapidly that by the time I finish typing this sentence everything about it -- including the device I'm typing it on -- probably will be outdated. And unlike with my newspaper job, I'm not working on something that will be published tomorrow or the next day. The ultimate goal is to have a book published before the National Park Service celebrates its centennial...
Read more...
Before beginning the year, I set up Google alerts for the words "national parks." So once a day I receive an email with news from the parks.
I expected to read about battles over snowmobiles in Yellowstone, mining near the Grand Canyon and budgets in Washington D.C. What has surprised me is the number of stories involving deaths -- starting with the shooting of Mt. Rainier ranger Margaret Anderson on Jan. 1 and followed by drownings, falls, animal attacks and a rodent-borne disease.
This probably shouldn't have surprised me. The national parks aren't Disney. And as I said when I started this...
Read more...
Recent Comments