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Category Archives: From the Notebooks
The Broken-down Bus
Mexican poet Alberto Blanco wrote a singular poem called, “The Broken-down Bus,” which is set in the winter of 1965. The narrator is riding a bus from Mexico to Los Angeles—his first journey across the border into the United States. But on the second day of the journey, at midnight, the bus breaks down in the middle of nowhere. All the people—first the teenagers, then the children and grown-ups—get off the bus. They are exhausted from the long journey, anxious to escape the wailing of a baby, impatient with the delay, and angry with the bus driver—blaming him for the mechanical breakdown. Continue reading
Posted in Essays, From the Notebooks, Travel Sketches
Tagged adventure, Alberto Blanco, fatherhood, Mexico, travel
2 Comments
Everything Under the Sun
In March 2018, my Uncle Clair had been visiting his son, Jim, in Phoenix and was ready to return to Utah. I offered to fly down to drive back with him so he wouldn’t have to travel alone. My aunt Linda (Clair’s sister) was concerned. He was, after all, in his late eighties. I jumped at the chance to spend time with him, though I knew he was fully capable of making the trip on his own. So, you see, there was a little self interest in my offer. My father, Lee, one of Clair’s younger brothers, had passed away just a few years before. What I had missed more than anything since my father’s death was the chance to talk freely about everything under the sun. Not small talk. But vast conversation with no limits. I knew with my cousin Jim and Uncle Clair that was exactly what would happen. I was desperately hungry for such talk. Continue reading
Posted in From the Notebooks, Travel Sketches
Tagged Arizona, James Clair Cantwell, Kierkegaard, Korean War, Marilyn Monroe, memories, road trip, Sept 11, travel
1 Comment
The Sorrows of Physicist Max Planck
Consider for a moment the sorrows of Max Planck, the theoretical physicist who originated quantum theory. In 1909, his wife, Marie Merck, died of tuberculosis. In 1914, his son, Erwin, was taken prisoner by the French during the First World … Continue reading
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
At a recent library sale, I paid twenty-five cents for a new paperback copy of Milan Kundera’s novel, The Unbearable Lightness of Being to replace the dog-eared, yellowing copy I’ve had for 35 years. Still, I find it hard to … Continue reading
Young Iranians and Americans at Twenty
On November 4, 1979 radical Iranian students stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, capturing 66 hostages who would not be free for 444 days. I was a Mormon missionary in New Mexico at the time. Twenty years old. This ominous … Continue reading
Posted in From the Notebooks
Tagged 1979, hostage crisis, hostages in Iran, New Mexico
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Ninety-six Hours in Toronto, June 2003
I keep travel notebooks, always have—writing more in three or four days than I write in six months at home. Being in motion lights me up. I have notebooks for Hong Kong, New Orleans, Vancouver BC, Mexico City, San Francisco, Taipei, … Continue reading
From One Spring to the Next
I have a notebook where I jot down—usually in the middle of the night—impressions about Colin’s adventures with his brother Quinn and his sayings. Here’s a sample from last spring to now.
One Boy's Way of Knowing 