The National Guard is in charge of security at the Simon Bolivar International Airport in Caracas, Venezuela. Recently a guardsman approached me and asked if I would be so kind as to remove one of my shoes.

I realize that I am late in sharing most of the traditional greetings that are due at this time of the year. But…

Every street corner in the historic center of Caracas has a name. Hence if you ask someone for directions, you will often be given the names of two corners instead of the name of a street or of a street number.

Today is November 18, 2008, and I am in Georgetown, Guyana. Thirty years ago today, Jim Jones encouraged and caused the suicide of over nine hundred people in Jonestown, Guyana, a place that no longer exists. Simply being in the country today forces one to reflect on what happened that ominous day.

For some odd reason, Delta Airlines recently put me in the first class section on a flight from Atlanta to Caracas.

Living in a foreign country often puts a different slant on what is happening in the United States.

In 1975 I spent thirty days in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming with the National Outdoor Leadership School. We had no radios, no means of communication with the outside world.

A few days ago I was reading UNCLE JOHN’S AHH—INSPIRING BATHROOM READER published by the Bathroom Readers’ Institute.

In a few days my feet will have the privilege of touching British soil for the first time in my life. I’m excited! Should you happen to be in one of the areas where I will be, it would be great to have the opportunity to meet you. Here’s the schedule:

I wonder if there is any other noun in the English language that has been used as much as “shit.” If the actual number could be known, it might surpass the grains of sand on all the beaches of the East and West Coasts of the United States.