Into the Great Wide Open: Outdoor Photoblog

It grieves me that this beautiful and idyllic island has been riven by religious and ethnic hatred with the Kuta bombings in which scores of foreign tourists were killed. The terrorists who carried out this attack not only singled out Westerners, they were also singling out for attack the Balinese ethos which has always been tolerant, diverse and open to all religions and cultures. Let us hope that Bali will survive and continue to uphold these values which many of us hold dear.

I strongly urge you to travel to Bali and embrace its culture. But avoid Kuta and the places where the majority of foreigners "hang out." These are tourist traps and will tell you nothing about Bali or the Balinese. Instead, go to Ubud, hike Mount Agung or one of the other impressive volcanos on the island, or visit a local village market to see how real Balinese live.





Balinese irrigations systems are vital to the well being of every Balinese, since rice is the staple crop. Dikes and channels are monitored and repaired constantly and the methods of building and maintaining them go back many centuries. The Balinese political system in farming villages revolves around decision making regarding who gets water, when and for how long.


This is an especially ornate and beautifully designed rice storage building for a village of native Balinese (who predated the Hindu settlers who arrived there centuries ago from India). The elaborateness of these structures indicates both the importance of rice to their diet and to the wealth of this particular village. The village is especially known for intricate and beautiful craft work including baskets and weavings (both of which we purchased).






A nine-tiered bier indicates a deceased individual of great prominence, in this case a priest

























Without intending to insult the Balinese (who probably do not think highly of dogs), we loved this boy and this photograph so much we named our first dog, Gede. She is as lovely and friendly as this boy was. The boy's smiling and welcoming face indicates how wonderfully open average Balinese (not those preying on tourists of which there are many due to economic privation) are to strangers.









We visited the island of Komodo, which contains the largest population of these primitive, fearsome monsters. It's best to visit them in the early morning before their cold blooded bodies have had a chance to warm up (and when they move more slowly!).


Our tour guides carried V-shaped sticks to keep them away from us. The dragons weren't interested in us since there was fresh meat to devour.







While this procession was for the benefit of tourists, it gives you an indication of the charm and warmth of native traditions.

The Planets at Rose Space Center at Museum of Natural History


Guggenheim Museum rotunda


World Trade Center and lower Manhattan



World Trade Center from Staten Island ferry

In the summer of 2000, I won the lottery! Actually, I won the Yosemite backcountry lottery giving me the opportunity to spend 8 days and 60 miles hiking the Tuolomne loop. The trip was led by a wonderful Yosemite NPS ranger, Dick Ewart, who taught us much about the flora, fauna and geology of the region. It was the trip of a lifetime and I've got the pictures to prove it.