Nigel Hey's Blog, page 7

The little old lady who lived in a railway carriage

Crocuses fronting Heysham Chapel, with the Irish Sea visible beyond. This blog post begins a series of excerpts from my book Wonderment , an autobiography that is available worldwide in paperback and eBook format. This passage is set in northern England in the early 1940s.


One bright English afternoon my mother took me to have tea with a remarkable lady who lived down the hill from our bakery shop. This meant a brisk walk toward H...<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>

Scourge of the Killer Bark Beetle

Pinon piness killed by beetles (US Forest Service, Southwestern Region, Forest Health)
It seems only a couple of years ago that while driving around the outskirts of Santa Fe, New Mexico, I was struck by the number of dead piñon pine trees scattered among the sparse, desert-hugging piñon-juniper forest. As I drove higher the forest became thicker and the...<![endif]--><!--[if !mso]>

Communication: More than Mere Words

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Conversation: More than Mere Words

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Peter Zarubin visits New Mexico

Peter Zarubin (left) and I compare photo notes, May 2013  ( Photo: E.D. Hey)In retrospect it seems rather strange that I should play host to a man who devoted much of his career to devising ways to shoot down American missiles. Parts of his life story might justify a more dramatic headline. But this time I will settle for plain vanilla.

Peter Zarubin was wearing a Russian suit and an American western shirt, and his eyebrows were the bushiest I had seen since my last meeting with the late...

A Night with Edmund Hillary

 Rainbow Lake, Utah. Photo: Panoramio (Google)I seldom count this as one of my near-death experiences, but it was very much like that when, on a hot dry day at 11,100 feet (3,400m), I staggered into the camp of Edmund Hillary, deep in Utah’s Uinta Mountains.

I was reminded of this episode today, on the 60th anniversary of Hillary’s arrival at the summit of Mount Everest, on May 29, 1953, with his Sherpa colleague and guide Tenzing Norgay. I was a young journalist living in Salt Lake City...

A Night with Sir Edmund Hillary

  Rainbow Lake, Utah. Photo: Panoramio (Google)I seldom count this as one of my near-death experiences, but it was very much like that when, on a hot dry day at 11,100 feet (3,400m), I staggered into the camp of Sir Edmund Hillary, deep in Utah’s Uinta Mountains.

I am reminded of this episode on the 60th anniversary of Hillary’s arrival at the summit of Mount Everest, on May 29, 1953, with his Sherpa colleague and guide Tenzing Norgay. I was a young journalist living in Salt Lake Cit...

Marquez: The Town That Isn't There

Young Oracio Molina as pictured in his book.
One of the many pleasant summertime amenities of my adopted New Mexico community, Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, is the weekly Saturday morning growers’ market. The term “growers’ market” is broadly applied since, in addition to the to-be-expected offerings of home-grown fruit, vegetables, and herbs, it includes a varied selection of wares ranging from wind chimes to pottery, from jewelry...<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>

The Cool Beyond Kona

La'Aloa Beach Park, near Kona (Photo by Nigel Hey)
Kona is one of those warm and palmy island refuges that you read about in travel books, and at vacation time we’re fortunate to be able to fly away to our own apartment where the sound of surf is a constant accompaniment and the narrow road outside is lined with bougainvillea, hibiscus, frangipani (plumeria) and oleander. Accustomed to short-time visitors, the people are habitually friendly, especially at this distance from big cities like Hon...

Wonderment on the Big Island of Hawaii

Local Kayak team approaches landing at Hōnaunau. (Nigel Hey photo)
When you visit the Big Island of Hawaii, you’ll want to visit the tsunami museum in Hilo, see the great volcanic basin of Kilauea, and perhaps visit the great observatories atop Mauna Kea. You’ll enjoy the tourist spots at sea and ashore, sample the local cuisine, and perhaps take a grand tour around the island. You’ll be dazzled by the botanical gardens, the abundance of roadside flowers, and the forested waterfalls.

But t...