Category Archives: Travel

And Then There Was Beer…

Posted on October 19, 2019 by John Swinburn

The flight from Guadalajara to Dallas was uneventful. The reception in Dallas by the U.S. Government bureaucracy was upsetting in the extreme. Customs and immigration, both of which have been recipients of obscenely enormous investments in recent years, demonstrated the … Continue reading →

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On Wisdom and Travel and Self-Reflection

Posted on September 24, 2019 by John Swinburn

I do not know the originator of the following concept, but I applaud his or her wisdom in expressing it: If you can’t intelligently argue for both sides of an issue, you don’t understand the issue well enough to argue … Continue reading →

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Implied Promise

Posted on September 1, 2019 by John Swinburn

What is an implied promise? Is a strong suggestion an implied promise? (You’ll have to assume an implicit action is associated with the strong suggestion.) Is a statement of future fact an implied promise? And what, by the way, is … Continue reading →

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The Truth as I Know It

Posted on April 11, 2019 by John Swinburn

Recently,  I wrote  about  Death’s Door  Gin.  I wasn’t  making it up. It’s a real thing. A large but surprisingly light (for its size) package arrived sometime yesterday afternoon/evening, while we were away. When I opened it, I found another … Continue reading →

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Wide Open Spaces

Posted on April 1, 2019 by John Swinburn

Yesterday—during our drive to Morrilton and then to Russellville and to Dardenelle and, finally, back to Hot Springs Village—I realized again how much I miss wide open spaces. I love looking at pastures and flat, open land that stretches to … Continue reading →

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Old Home Week

Posted on July 26, 2018 by John Swinburn

We arrived at the fringes of Corpus Christi yesterday afternoon around 4:30, locating our newish hotel situated in an industrial district near the Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetary.  All along Interstate 37, our route into the city, chemical and/or petrochemical … Continue reading →

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Is It Going To or Running From?

Posted on May 11, 2018 by John Swinburn

A friend—a woman who worked for me years ago and is largely responsible for our move to Hot Springs Village—is in town and will spend the next few days with us.  Her husband died a couple of months ago and … Continue reading →

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Less Traveled

Posted on April 19, 2018 by John Swinburn

My wife and I have had extremely good fortune with regard to travel. We’ve been lots of places, both together and separately, that would cause a lot of people to express envy at our good fortune.  But the degree of … Continue reading →

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We Went Somewhere

Posted on April 4, 2018 by John Swinburn

A fellow blogger challenged a few other bloggers in a small band of writers to write about a memorable trip with my special someone. I thought long and hard about it. I’ve had so many memorable adventures with my wife, … Continue reading →

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Postprandial Ruminations

Posted on July 13, 2017 by John Swinburn

The Little Apple Brewing Company was a bit of a disappointment. The food was fine, but the single beer (the Riley’s Red Ale) was just adequate. And the atmosphere was most definitely not the sort I’m used to experiencing in … Continue reading →

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Road Tripping in the K States and Going Global

Posted on July 11, 2017 by John Swinburn

The morning is warm and humid. A short walk to the neighbors’ house to one side of us, to pick up their newspaper, resulted in sweaty skin and a shortness of breath indicative of inadequate exercise. I’ve been promising myself … Continue reading →

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Drifting Through a State of Mind

Posted on April 12, 2017 by John Swinburn

Approximately four hours after we left Hot Springs Village, we arrived in Bentonville/Rogers. First stop was a furniture store whose website advertised that they carry the Mostly Danish Furniture brand of home furnishings. The sales staff and management did not … Continue reading →

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Kilns and Flights and Preference for Empty Space

Posted on October 6, 2016 by John Swinburn

Yesterday, I went to the sculpture studio early and spent a short while working on a bust that’s in the same visual style as many of my masks; odd and alien. For many reasons, not the least of which was … Continue reading →

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Should I Die in New Zealand?

Posted on July 14, 2016 by John Swinburn

When we lived in Dallas, fierce thunderstorms were not strangers. They swept through the area with some regularity, sometimes bringing with them astonishing hail that ruined roofs and left cars pockmarked with evidence of Mother Nature’s fury that simply could … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Travel | 3 Comments

Ill and Alone

Posted on June 22, 2016 by John Swinburn

My friend, Myra, wound up in a Lexington, Kentucky hospital emergency room yesterday. I don’t know just what led her there, aside from intense pain. I spoke with her last night from her hospital bed (the hospital admitted her) after learning of … Continue reading →

Posted in Health, Travel | 1 Comment

Frolics in France

Posted on June 14, 2016 by John Swinburn

Yesterday, we all piled in two cars and drove to Gordes, a beautiful little village a short drive away. It was, as expected, packed with tourists. They had come for the stunning views of the valleys below and the quaint, … Continue reading →

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Hen Peckery

Posted on June 9, 2016 by John Swinburn

The pizza is not what I expected. But that’s all right. I had no expectations about pizza. Indeed, I had no plans to eat pizza. But the time and the place and the menu conspired to place pizza before me. … Continue reading →

Posted in Just Thinking, Travel | 1 Comment

And Then…

Posted on May 31, 2016 by John Swinburn

After relaxing for awhile Sunday afternoon, the three of us (my wife, my sister, and I) headed out in search of dinner. We chose Tapas Café on Cours Mirabeau, a very busy boulevard packed with people, in spite of the … Continue reading →

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First Days, Aix-en-Provence.

Posted on May 29, 2016 by John Swinburn

The day began at 4:00 a.m., with a wake-up alarm and a shower, followed by a ride service to the airport. We learned, on arrival at the airport, that our transportation service accepts only cash and checks, no credit cards. … Continue reading →

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A Recurring Theme

Posted on March 26, 2016 by John Swinburn

The most recent ember, I think, was the Crystal Bridges museum exhibition, The Open Road: Photography and the American Road Trip. The exhibit features more than 100 photos taken by 19 photographers as they traveled across the USA from the 1950s through … Continue reading →

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Dribs and Drabs of Dallas

Posted on March 13, 2016 by John Swinburn

The drive to Dallas was wet, especially early on as we left Hot Springs Village. Rain swept over the car in torrents, giving the windshield wipers a challenge they barely met. Once we merged onto I-30, about thirty-five miles from … Continue reading →

Posted in Food, Friendship, Just Thinking, Travel | 2 Comments

Iceland, Yes, Iceland

Posted on February 11, 2016 by John Swinburn

Have you ever wanted to go to Iceland? Yeah.  Me, too.  How about Finland? Yeah, I’ve been there once (just one day in Helsinki); I want to go back and spend a bit more time. On a whim, I checked … Continue reading →

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Baiser Français

Posted on February 6, 2016 by John Swinburn

We are in the early stages of planning a trip to southern France. My approach to preparation for the trip involves learning some of the more mundane aspects of French life, with an eye toward enabling us to blend in, … Continue reading →

Posted in Just Thinking, Travel | 1 Comment

Longing for the Road

Posted on November 24, 2015 by John Swinburn

Yesterday, I wrote that I planned to take a risk with this blog and make the strongest arguments I could in opposition to raising the minimum wage. And I will. But not today, even though that’s what I intended to … Continue reading →

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Sequester

Posted on September 30, 2015 by John Swinburn

Many days, I feel the urge to drive long, lonely highways toward an obscure destination, some distant place whose only allure is its remoteness and privacy. I know nothing of this place other than it requires considerable time and concerted effort to reach. I’m not … Continue reading →

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