A Traveller’s Eye, A Thinker’s Heart
I like to tell stories. I like to take photos.
And I like to share them. Enjoy.
-
DANCIN’ UNDER THE BAOBAB TREE
The baobab tree has a most significant importance to the people of northern Ghana. The leaves and fruit provide an excellent source of nutrition while the bark has medicinal values. And it’s a magical tree venerated by the locals. My colleague, Scott Christiansen, travelled to the village of Punga, just a few klicks south of
-
MOUNTAINS, HORSES AND JAILOO
On maps, Kyrgyzstan looks like a country made of ridgelines. Landlocked, mountainous and wedged between larger powers, it had intrigued me for years. I finally visited in July 2023 to photograph alfalfa. What filled my viewfinder instead were ‘jailoo’ grasslands, towering mountains, vast skies and horses grazing as if little had changed in centuries. Kyrgyzstan
-
STILL KEEPING HOPE ALIVE
I had already made up my mind before I ventured to the steps of the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison. I was going to vote for Jesse. No doubt about it. But I still wanted to hear him in person — to feel the cadence of his stump speech roll across the crowd — and
-
ALEX’S LAST GOOD TURN
As a boy growing up in rural Wisconsin, I used to ride my bike every Monday to the VFW hall, raise my hand and recite the Scout Oath. “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country … and to help other people at all times…” Scouting
-
2026 IS THE NEW 1984
Back in 1984 I read ‘1984’ to see if George Orwell’s prophecy had been fulfilled. I thought it was a great yarn but it was a dystopian scenario that would never actually come true. At least not in my lifetime and certainly not in the United States of America. How wrong I was. ‘1984’ is
-
THE SIGN IN THE WINDOW
I don’t know how many times I’ve yelled at my television and told world leaders, politicians and CEOs to get a spine and stand up to the bully in the White House. I’ve become pretty hoarse. But I know the reality. When that bully has control of incredible military, economic and political might you just
-
THE SAFARI LESS TAKEN
My neighbour from Aleppo, Syria and mate for 35 years, Scott Christiansen, and I were in Tanzania last month for a consultancy. It was a Sunday, and we had Bambara groundnut and sweetpotato leaves growing out of our ears. So we decided to get out of Dodge. When in Tanzania the thing to do is
-
SWEETPOTATOES A LA SINGIDA
When I heard that my colleague Scott Christiansen and I were assigned to look at the value chain of sweetpotatoes in Tanzania I assumed we’d be looking at the same orange, white, or purple tubers that make their way into our meals in a hundred different forms. But in Tanzania, especially in the Singida region,
-
THE BAMBARA GROUNDNUTS OF UNYAMIKUMBI
If you look at a dried Bambara groundnut in its shell you’d be forgiven if you thought it was a deformed peanut. They share a name. Peanuts are called ‘groundnuts’ in many places in the world. And they are both legumes. And both need to have hard shells removed prior to eating. But that’s pretty
Adventure Adventures Agriculture Austria Backpacking Bangladesh Belize Benin Bolivia Botswana California Canada Cassava Chickpea Colombia Community Seedbanks Costa Rica COVID Cowpea Crop Diversity Current Affairs Czech Republic Ecuador Egypt Environment Eulogy Family Finger millet Finland Flora Food Security Forestry France Friends Georgia Germany Ghana Grasspea Greece Guatemala History Hitchhiking Honduras ICARDA India Indonesia Ireland Italy Japan Kazakhstan Kenya Kyrgyzstan Language Laos Lebanon Liberia Life's Experiences Lousiana Luxembourg Malaysia Media Mexico Morocco Mozambique Nature Nicaragua Norway Pakistan Papua New Guinea Peace Corps Peru Philosophical Photography pigeonpea Portugal Potato Recollections Religion Rice Sierra Leone Singapore Sorghum South Australia Spain Sweden Sweetpotato Switzerland Syria Tanzania The Gambia The Netherlands Togo Turkey United States Vietnam Washington Western Australia Wine Wisconsin Zimbabwe
What are you looking for?
If you see this after your page is loaded completely, leafletJS files are missing.