The Music of Mono Lake

The Music of Mono Lake

There is a place of salt and water, age and algae called Mono Lake in California. It’s a place of strange shapes formed from mixing calcium and carbonate. Over the years, towers formed called tufa. Tan spires of all shapes and sizes bloom under the water’s surface and...
Find Yourself in Yosemite

Find Yourself in Yosemite

I thought I didn’t have a favorite place on my trip. Well, not a clear winner as there have been many beautiful places I’ve visited that I call favorites. Sitting on a boulder on the edge of Glacier Point in Yosemite changed that. A girl I met here, Lauren, compared...
Time in the Desert

Time in the Desert

I recently spent a few days in Joshua Tree upon my return to the USA. Coming from Japan, it was surreal to be walking through the Mojave Desert. I was suddenly in the old west full of cacti and cowboys. The land is bright and the views vast. Shadows stretch long in...
A Tunnel Between Worlds

A Tunnel Between Worlds

One morning in Kyoto, I set out to explore the famous torii of Fushimi Inari-Taisha Shrine. I woke at 5am and put my body on auto pilot, following my phone’s directions to the nearest station that headed there. Few people stood on the platform as the melodic chimes...