Haibun Archives - Navigating This Thing We Call Life

Austrian Alps (a haibun)

Ron Rowland — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 21:56:04 +0000

Austrian Alps (a haibun) Destination: Lienz, Austria. The drive from Bled, Slovenia to Lienz, Austria is a beautiful one, even when traveling the major highways. One surprise (to us) in this part of the world is the quantity and length of tunnels. We entered the Karawanks Tunnel from the E61 in northern Slovenia, exiting 4.9 […]

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Not A Fan of Winter

Ron Rowland — Mon, 31 Jan 2022 21:11:43 +0000

Not A Fan of Winter (a haibun) Destination: Warmth. I was never a fan of winter. Don’t get me wrong, I often enjoyed it in my youth. Sledding down the hills and skating the pond at Ottawa Park was always fun. Jeff, my friend and neighbor, would make his backyard into a small skating rink […]

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Married On The Winter Solstice

Ron Rowland — Tue, 04 Jan 2022 14:56:12 +0000

Married On The Winter Solstice (a haibun) Destination: Happiness. We were married on the winter solstice, the “shortest day” of the year, a day that has been celebrated for thousands of years. The builders of Stonehenge perfectly aligned the structure with the day’s sunset and following sunrise – providing a backdrop for an all-night party […]

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Market On The Rambles

Ron Rowland — Thu, 02 Dec 2021 12:18:03 +0000

Market On The Rambles (a haibun) Destination: Mercado de la Boqueria, Barcelona. Rambling down ‘The Rambles’ of Barcelona, Spain has long been a must-do and must-see activity for both visitors to Barcelona and residents alike. I arrive mid-morning, as a first-time visitor to this exquisite locale, and become immediately enthralled. The sycamore-lined boulevard, with its […]

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Glass City River Wall Haibun

Ron Rowland — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 20:30:48 +0000

Image: Glass City River Wall, courtesy of Urban Sight, Inc. Glass City River Wall (a haibun) Destination: Toledo, Ohio, USA. Many cities have an easily recognizable landmark — the one that sets it apart from all other cities on the planet. Toledo, Ohio, nicknamed the Glass City, has such a landmark. However, historically, this landmark […]

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The Coolest Job I Ever Had

Ron Rowland — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 19:34:57 +0000

The Coolest Job I Ever Had “Every time I’ve gone scuba diving, I’ve found a sunken ship – a sunken spaceship.”– Ron Rowland This quote sounds like a total fabrication, complete bull, or the rantings of a mad man. However, it is absolutely true – let me tell you about the coolest job I ever […]

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Pulteney Bridge Haibun

Ron Rowland — Mon, 02 Aug 2021 21:05:59 +0000

Pulteney Bridge (a haibun) Destination: Bath, England. With a good night’s sleep, a hearty English breakfast, and the adrenalin that accompanies the start of a multi-week adventure, we had shed all symptoms of jetlag. It was the last day of August, and we were anxious to see Bath. Our first stop was the Roman Baths […]

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Stonehenge Summer Solstice Sunset

Ron Rowland — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 20:29:45 +0000

Stonehenge Summer Solstice Sunset We enter the Stonehenge grounds by walking up “the Avenue” in the same manner of the ancients, as they partook in the Summer Solstice events. A long, adventurous, and filling day is behind us, while the best is yet to come. Up from “the Bottoms” we walked, following “the Avenue” through […]

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Cherohala Skyway

Ron Rowland — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 20:47:23 +0000

Cherohala Skyway (a haibun) Destination: Cherohala Skyway. Our morning instructions state it quite clearly. We are to “1) Go to Tellico Plains, Tennessee, find the entrance to the Cherohala Skyway” and then “2) Drive to Robbinsville, North Carolina.” It’s the second day of the Moonshine Mille 2021, a 2-day 1,000-mile road rally that is taking […]

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Fuck It – I Quit

Ron Rowland — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 20:23:14 +0000

Fuck It – I Quit (a Tuscan catharsis haibun) Destination: Tranquility. I didn’t go in search of it, but I found tranquility in the gentle rolling hills of Tuscany. Or more correctly – tranquility found me, as I was somewhat lost beforehand. I knew there was an ache in my life, but I never realized […]

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