breathtakebyways

About breathtakebyways

Ann Williams’ travel articles have appeared in publications all over the country including The Washington Post, Roads to Adventure, and Jack and Jill. Between researching and writing books, she specializes in creative lectures.

Speaking of Writing

 in Uncategorized by

I’ve been beating the bushes for almost three years searching for audiences willing to listen to me practice my sea talks.  Last week I drove to Denver to talk to two people because it’s better than talking to a mirror. So I was seriously blown away to be invited–out of the blue–to speak to a writers’ conference! The attendees (hopefully more than two) are even willing to listen to an excerpt of one of my presentations. I can’t wait to hear what else I have to say. Here’s the link in case you’re interested in attending or can’t quite believe it either: http://pueblowestwriters.wixsite.com/pwwg/conference-information.

Knitting Connections

 in China / Gratitude  tagged connecting / conversation starter / expats / family / great grandmother / hand crafts / Knitting / Mona Gardner / Shawna Williams / travel by

This post is borrowed from my daughter Shawna Williams who lived in China for three years.  To read more of her exploits click on this link:  https://americaninchengdu.wordpress.com/ August 20, 2010 I’ve discovered that a good way to strike up conversations with Chinese strangers is to knit in public. I think this is because Chinese people assume that knitting is a Chinese thing, so they figure that a knitting foreigner must be picking up local habits. On a recent four-day trip from Chengdu to Beijing via Shanxi Province, a man in a bus station mimed knitting and gave me a thumbs-up, and a few […]

Stubborn Trees

 in Uncategorized  tagged Earth Day / tenacity / trees / will to live by

Some trees just don’t know when to quit.   I have admired the tenacity of trees growing on rock cliffs and the walls of buildings.  We sometimes camp beside one that leans far out over a creek that undercut the bank that supported that side of the root system.  Tender new roots probe into the tiniest cracks then slowly bulk up to cleave rock and crumble cement.  Even metal pipes are no match for thirsty roots.  We can’t beat them, and the world will work way better if we join them already.  Sign me: Tree Hugger.   

Discovering Meaning II—Sotol

 in Snowbirding / Texas  tagged archeology / first inhabitants / making paint / pictoglyphs / Seminole Canyon / sotol cake / state park / Texas / travel / west Texas desert by

Mind boggling, the truths archeologists can tease out of an ancient glob. First inhabitants of Seminole Canyon in Texas used bulbs from a yucca-like plant called sotol to cook up portable, storable cakes. Raw sotol bulbs are soapy and painfully gut cleansing. Those problems were overcome by covering them with prickly pear leaves and hot coals to bake, letting them sit for a time before grinding them into meal, adding water and forming them into cakes to be seared on a hot rock. This painstaking process produced a  cake with a dirt/yam fusion flavor. Obviously food options were scarce in the west […]

Crustacean Liberation Cruise 2

 in Our Quest / Snowbirding / Texas / Wildlife/animals  tagged ALDFG / Anahauc / crab trap cleanup / Emily Ford / Galveston Bay Foundation / game warden / Lone Star Law / NRG Energy / Patricia Vannoy / Texas / travel by

“See the lady in the pink shirt? I think she’s from Colorado. She’s got a blog and everything.” I was actually wearing green, so I overheard Emily Ford, the event organizer, pointing a faux me out to her setup team. A retired Water Resources Director and lobbyist from Houston, was also awed that I’d come 1000 miles to the Texas gulf to rescue crabs from derelict traps. Well, excuse me, but Abandoned Lost and Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG) kills countless sea creatures every year including dolphins, whales, turtles, seals, and yeah, crabs. Why wouldn’t I want to help? An unexpected bonus came in my being assigned […]

Jungle Bowl

 in Peru / Snowbirding / Wildlife/animals  tagged Aguas Calientes / Amazon River basin / caiman / cocaine / football / Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica / jungle / medicinal plants / monkeys / Peru / soccer / Tambopata by

My favorite bowl game took place in the Amazon River basin in Peru. The ball was round, and the “crowd” didn’t speak much English, but they gave us the best seats in the house. We only heard about the game because our jungle guide mentioned it as we returned from an excursion to see monkeys, caimans, and medicinal plants–complete with instructions for making cocaine. The game might have been better if the field had been longer since the players generally kicked the ball from one end to the other.  We didn’t get to see much tricky dribbling. We also didn’t get to see anyone score. […]

R.E.M. Wisdom

 in Gratitude / Our Quest  tagged dream writing / Maggie Honton / motivation / Oracle / poetry / resolutions / wisdom by

In a dream, an oracle counsels: When you believe in your beliefs and doubt your doubts, you will forge forgiveness and find relief. But be wary… If you doubt your beliefs and believe your doubts, That is the path of grief. This jewel is by Maggie Honton who has been hosting our writing group for over ten years.  If only I could write like this in my sleep!

Northern Normality 2

 in Canada / Wildlife/animals  tagged Authors on Eighth Writing Contest / Dawson City / Jack London / Robert Service / Thaw-digra / travel / Yukon Territory by

Rode an ATV to tea Fresh from meeting Sam Magee. Grand digs and heirloom china too, All because “we like you”? We like you too and we might stay But oh, the winter’s cruel they say.   So dark and cold that fissures crack, Grit and grunt to fill them back. La, the stories locals tell Of artfully rebranding Hell. Engage the neurons, thrill and train Before the darkness drills your brain. Wouldst thou learn a sexy skill? Tassel twirling o’er the hill. Weaving, pickiin’, tossing ax, Write a memoir, make up facts. Ice worms dancing in the road? Sober […]

A Gift from the Orient 2

 in China / Travel tips  tagged China / Chinese customs / Jiuzhaigou / pocket knife / souvenir / travel by

We needed souvenirs for ranching men, and what better than knives? But Chinese gift-shopkeepers carried no knives. A knife, given as a gift, would signify the giver’s wish to cut off the friendship. We walked the length of the Jiuzhaigou shopping street, asking for knives at each shop.  No one had a knife, but when we walked past those same shops on our way back to the hotel, the sellers met us on the sidewalk to offer knives of all kinds.  This one isn’t sturdy enough for ranch work, or much of anything else, and we were skeptical of the […]

Discovering Meaning

 in Snowbirding / Texas  tagged evolution of letters / pictographs / Seminole Canyon / West Texas / writing by

Who’d have thought an obscure canyon in west Texas shelters the oldest known writings in the Americas?  These icons were painted about the time the pyramids were going up in Egypt. I’d never fully connected primitive pictures with writing, but these images very likely hold a message. Over time the same basic symbols show a progression from confusingly detailed to simple and more symbolized, a slow tightening to letters. The exhibit’s explanation of that stripping down and stylizing tendency strikes a chord here. It’s what I do with every draft I write: enhance character while stripping out non-essential detail, words, even syllables. Since the meaning […]