borderlands


the desert kingdom of arizona

Deserts are a landscape of hardship.  Yet as has always been my case, “Lucky for me, I love the Desert Southwest.” [Borderlands USA, p.175] As lovely and pampered and touristed as the coast highways are, I felt relieved to be back on empty border tracks, the narrow two-laners connecting remoteness […]


border & bug patrol 1 1

Since March, Zeno the fearless border patrol doggie, has been on a mission of encouragement and support to all those we meet. The roadrip that was slated for mid-March, to patrol the entire East Coast with dog happiness, finally took place at the end of September.  Zeno turned 15 in […]


so so. cali.

Here the journey continues through the foreign country of California, which still looms large in our dreams. “Yes, California is a natural, if well-ordered, paradise. The benign foresight of its people, through individual initiative and their elected representatives, has led to a remarkable preservation of so much natural bounty. Just […]


no. california coasting

They say that if California were a separate country it would boast the world’s fifth largest economy, more out-of-work actors per capita than any other, and the highest insurance rates on earth, but as far as I can tell it already is another country. [Borderlands USA, p. 141] So begins […]


gardens of revelation ii 2

The Garden of Eden, of Lucas, Kansas, is one of the most evocative roadside attractions in the U.S. Built in 1907 by Civil War Veteran Sam Dinsmoor, it is also the country’s oldest intact folk art complex.  At times called Visionary or Outsider art, it displays an elaborate set of […]


mid-coast maine 2

“Maine, along with Florida, is the most geographically isolated of the lower forty-eight, which may explain its agelessness. Although only the 11th largest, it feels massive by northeastern standards, and wild beyond this New Englander’s imagination, the wildness compounded by a sense of enormity – and isolation.” p.25, Borderlands USA […]


oh link! roanoke, va

The mystique of trains plays a large role in borderland culture.  Here, a museum lovingly rose from Roanoke’s former Norfolk & Western passenger terminal, with an amazing photography collection that captures the dying years of America’s last steam railway. O. Winston Link, a commercial photographer from New York, had a […]