Writings

INHALE THE SKY
An Exploration of Peru and the Andes

1. Uno - Beginnings   [november]
   I almost never left home. Not because I got scared of a potentially life-altering, open-ended adventure on a distant unfamiliar continent; and not because of my hangover after the Peruvian chicha send-off celebration... More »
2. Dos - A Solitary Moment   [november]
   Thanksgiving. It's been two weeks. I want to wish you a happy day from a place where there are many, many festivals, but not this one. I explained our American "Dia de Gracias" this morning to the Perezes as well as I could... More »
3. Tres - Stepping Out Into the Land of the Incas   [december]
   It all still feels like a dream. A month-long dream. This Peru. For three years I've been living in... More »
4. Cuatro - Love, Loss, and Machu Picchu   [january]
   Life is strange, short, and beautiful. In its strangeness, shortness, and beauty, we experience three key events: We're born; We do some relatively inconsequential things; We die. It's been this way for quite some time now... More »
5. Cinco - Touching Heaven   [february-march]
   Fear. That which you fear controls you. It owns you. For some, it's heights. For others, the dark. Some fear boredom, others change. Some fear adventure, others settling down. Some fear being known, others fear never being known. Some fear dying, others fear deeply... More »
6. Seis - Fiestas and Fate Further in the Andes   [april-may]
   I couldn't speak. I knew the answer, but I couldn't utter it aloud. The question: Why do we suffer? I had read it somewhere, the answer, in some Buddhist writing... there are only three sources of suffering... More »
7. Siete - Unending Cold, Unexpected Heat   [june-july]
   "No!" cried Amabel. "No quiero pintar!" The seven-year-old girl then hurled to the floor her worksheet - a picture of a toad... More »
8. Epilogue   [august]
   Some time around midnight last night, a big steel bird dropped me beside the San Francisco Bay, and I'm walking down sunny streets, grinning... More »