Reginald Spittle's Blog: See my book blog, page 7
May 25, 2024
Truth or BS? Can You Tell the Difference?
If you are the first to tell a “truth,” people will likely believe you, then they will repeat your “truth” to others, who will also believe it. Humans are programmed to believe. Even if you are making up the “truth.” People once there was a race of bat people who lived on the moon. Hundreds … Continue reading Truth or BS? Can You Tell the Difference? →
May 19, 2024
My Camino Book: Is This Really Happening?
I was warned. The vast majority of books from indie authors find few readers beyond family and friends and have a short shelf life. Almost six years after my first book, Camino Sunrise: Walking With My Shadows, was published, it is finding new readers in surging numbers in several countries, especially the United States and … Continue reading My Camino Book: Is This Really Happening? →
May 17, 2024
Travel High in the Himalaya
You long for an up-close look at the world’s highest mountain range, but logistics, cost, and a long list of complications stand in your way. Here is an alternative: Travel with Erika Fatland and her superb book, High, A Journey Across the Himalaya Through Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal, and China. The acclaimed author, anthropologist, and … Continue reading Travel High in the Himalaya →
May 5, 2024
Lend Me Your Ears: These Words Are Monumental
He was too ill to present the speech in person, but his plea was instrumental to the formation of the United States. Benjamin Franklin’s words, written when he was 82, were delivered to much younger men at the secret Constitutional Convention by lawyer James Wilson. Franklin implored the delegates to sign the Constitution, then the … Continue reading Lend Me Your Ears: These Words Are Monumental →
April 26, 2024
Top Ten Retirement Adventures: No. 1
When I set out to catalogue my top ten retirement adventures, the easiest choice was number one. As great as the other nine adventures have been, the John Muir Trail had them beat. By way more than a mile. Talk about the improbable. I never imagined I would spend 30 days in California’s Sierra Nevada … Continue reading Top Ten Retirement Adventures: No. 1 →
April 25, 2024
Top Ten Retirement Adventures: No. 2
Sue’s words transformed our lives. It was 2012. We had just watched Martin Sheen’s movie The Way, in which the actor walks the 500-mile Camino de Santiago across Spain to honor his son’s memory. Played by real-life son Emilio Estevez, his son had died in a snowstorm during his first day on the trail. The … Continue reading Top Ten Retirement Adventures: No. 2 →
April 24, 2024
Top Ten Retirement Adventures: No. 3
In spring 2022, we summited two of the Northeast’s most famous mountains, one by foot and one on wheels. Sue sits atop Acadia National Park’s Cadillac Mountain, the USA’s tallest peak along the East Coast. We are proud that we hiked to Cadillac’s apex. Wheels lifted us to the top of Mount Washington in New … Continue reading Top Ten Retirement Adventures: No. 3 →
April 23, 2024
Top Ten Retirement Adventures: No. 4
If you have walked a distance trek, then you have felt the bittersweet experience of your final steps. I was overwhelmed when I turned the corner from the Tiber River and glimpsed St. Peter’s Basilica, the end of the Way of St. Francis. We had done it! My achy legs and feet cheered the end … Continue reading Top Ten Retirement Adventures: No. 4 →
April 22, 2024
Top Ten Retirement Adventures: No. 5
Record-setting Appalachian Trail runner Jennifer Pharr Davis said it was her favorite trek in the world. “You can do it,” she told us about the Tour du Mont Blanc during her visit to Ashland, Oregon. We weren’t as certain, but after months of nervous debate, we jetted to France, played tourists in Paris and Strasbourg, … Continue reading Top Ten Retirement Adventures: No. 5 →
April 21, 2024
Top Ten Retirement Adventures: No. 6
In 2016, we plunged into the world of RVing. By spring of 2017, without having mastered the art of hookups nor the skill of guiding our Rockwood Mini travel trailer into camping sites, Sue and I climbed into our Toyota Tacoma and headed to Arizona with only one other definite stop: Charleston, West Virginia, where … Continue reading Top Ten Retirement Adventures: No. 6 →
