from rscottjones

Today is the 55th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, a series of protests often credited as the defining event that launched the gay rights movement. I visited Stonewall Inn and Christopher Park days before it was designated a national monument in 2016.

Enjoying the view

Baggage Claim

I wrote a short ode to Sonoran Desert National Monument, a half-a-million-acre chunk of undeveloped and overlooked public lands outside of the nation’s fifth largest city.

Three murals in Belfast from 2001.

The Equality House (Topeka, Kansas)

Also five years ago today, two of my friends surprised me in Alaska, flying up to be there when I finished my national parks quest. Here we are that morning at Sitka NHP, which was park 418/419 for me.

My wife had actually organized a number of friends (plus my parents and even my ex-wife!) to fly up and join in the surprise (she started two years in advance). We had originally planned on completing the Alaskan parks over three summers, so that’s what everyone was counting on. But I managed to cut it down to just two years instead, which, unbeknownst to me, ruined everyone’s plans. Whoops!

I read something that really pissed me off and I had to quickly write this before I went to bed. I’ll edit and clean it up tomorrow, but I’m publishing it tonight.

It’s Not About Nostalgia, It’s About Human Connection

Classic

One of the fun things I used to do was have my postcards “experience” my trip before I mailed them. So I’d dip a corner of it into the river, rub it in the dirt on the trail, press it into the embossed historical marker, or dribble some beer onto it. I’d then fill it out as normal and mail it.

Go home river, you’re drunk!

One useful thing about writing online is that sometimes you end up writing for your future self. I just ran across a public note I wrote three years ago that I really needed to hear today. Thanks Scott, I appreciate your help.