Category: Columns

Working Waterfront

A northernmost working waterfront

I recently visited the village of Siorapaluk, in northwest Greenland. At about 77 1/2 degrees north latitude, it’s the northernmost human settlement in Greenland and one of the world’s northernmost working waterfronts. I arrived by kayak, paddling north across the calm late-July waters of Robertson Fjord. The shore included a… SEE MORE
Journal of an Island Kitchen

Working Waterfront

Where does the friction go?

Friction-maxxing, according to its Wikipedia definition, “is the practice of intentionally choosing less convenient options in daily life to build tolerance for discomfort, resist technology-driven ease, and preserve what proponents describe as meaningful human experiences.” SEE MORE
Cranberry Report

Working Waterfront

Friendly banter and ferry updates

In July of 2005, I wrote a column about the posters and signs people installed around the islands and how they were the best way to find out what was going on. Twenty-one years later, people still put up posters, but if you want details about island activities, most folks… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A theory about those who visit islands

If you want to meet islanders, go to an island. Now before you send a letter to the editor complaining about the dumbest sentence you’ve ever read in your life, let me explain. I had that admittedly room-temperature insight recently, on the barnacle-crusted shore of West Gosling, one of a… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

The best place for a bad time

First, some news. On April 23, my 45th birthday, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The thumbnail sketch is that my prognosis is great, it hasn't spread anywhere, and I'm on a curative treatment plan that starts with chemo, then surgery, then maybe radiation, then immunotherapy. I found the tumors… SEE MORE