BALLAD OF BERME ROAD

In the vast cathedral of the valley: Green hills, blue sky, Sun pouring down like honeyed rain First: to remember the spot, To find it on...

The three legged deer was sleeping in the backyard last night, huddled against the south wall of the house on a patch of bare ground near...

By way of introduction,  here’s an interview, excerpted and edited, from the book “Chopping Wood” by David Bernz. I was a part of a...

Letter to a Friend, December 1983: Next summer, David and I want to take our little row boat [we still have the same one; a ship brought...

photo: running downwind [ Dave and Sarah, the nautical nomads, have just returned from a three year sojourn of cruising around Europe in...

Episode 1 Readying the "Rainbow Warrior" for Sea, Winter 1984 Just back to the Hudson Valley after their epic summer trip to Canada in...

notes on a future post/place holder With heartfelt thanks to Allan Goldhammer, Paul Tobin, and Chief Vincent Mann October 15, 2021 [ this...

The further adventures of Manzanita and Crew photo: "Manzanita" and her crew INTRODUCTION: Rounding Lindesnes The day we sailed around...

photo: Dave getting ashore from "Sea Gull", Andratx harbor. The cat is not pleased. Foreword (or Backword?) written in1992, Ulster...

Foreword: The Story So Far The title Dave suggested for an account of our travels, "Rowing Against the Wind" was meant to be ironic. ...

photo: taking in the view. Embroidery by Sarah. Autumn, 1981 Introduction: [letter to a friend, Virginia Sands] Dear Gini- Here it is,...

photo: the original sail rig Why did we do it? What blend of nihilism, recklessness, whimsy and angst motivated this journey? One might...

[Warning: this message is unabashedly pro-Christmas, in a Pagan sort of way.] Growing up in an informally Secular Humanist but culturally...

"Oh, Baby, Baby, it's a wild world It's hard to get by just upon a smile. Oh, Baby, Baby, it's a wild world And I'll always remember you...

photo: Sarah on "L'Amie" Jan. 13 Letter home: Dear Dad- This is another quick "I survived" message to let you know that David and I are...

To set the scene, we were young. I was 21 and David 33, and we had known each other for barely a year. Casting our lot together, we were...

Prince William Sound, Alaska June-July 1979 [age 20] [Wilderness kayaking course with NOLS, the "National Outdoor Leadership School"....

July 5, 1978. Prince William Sound, Alaska. Travelling by kayak. "Four killer whales intrigued and terrified us at Point Nowell- so close...

[An episode from “The Wonderbread Kids Play Cowboy”. Our protagonists, teenaged lovers “Jenny” and “Bruce”, are sharecropping on a...

[This chapter of my life took place in the fall of 1979. I had been crewing on the environmental educational sailboat “Clearwater”,...