• Feature

    Rare Air Episode 64

    June 30, 2026 - By 

    The way this experiment has worked out so far, every time I am introducing a new Rare Air episode, the content presented is a time-capsule from the past. The footage presented here was captured right at the end of 2019 … so, six-and-a-half years ago. As I recall, I spent part of that day with Beth’s uncle OJ, who passed away two weeks later. It was sort of a miracle that he was able to join us for the occasion; he was losing strength and barely left his room. Still, we all picked our moments to stop by, to check-in,…

  • Feature

    Rare Air Episode 44

    May 1, 2021 - By 

    I’ve been reliving words written in early July, 2017, during the time of this trip. For Beth and me, the main theme of our second St. John excursion was Togetherness: We were celebrating 25 years (plus six weeks) of matrimony. Perhaps it’s also true that we were seriously starting to fantasize about our hopes for the future – which continue coming into focus as the years pass.

  • Feature

    Rare Air Episode 40

    August 31, 2020 - By 

    Here are some notes from my journal on 10 July, 2017, the day this footage was recorded. “So long as nothing threatening presents itself, one can easily experience sheer bravado, even while visiting a world where we are so foreign. A half mile off the coast of St. John with mostly just ocean to the east and south, and Tortola a couple of miles away to the north, we were very exposed to all the natural life of the deep, dark sea. But as we swam from just around the tip of the south side to the north along the…

  • Feature

    Rare Air Episode 39

    June 30, 2020 - By 

    If I had ever experienced a close encounter with a squid before July 9, 2017, I don’t remember it. And on the other hand, the visitation recorded in the video featured here is something I will probably never forget. On this trip, I had a new underwater housing for my Sony DSC-RX100 camera, and I didn’t yet have much experience attempting to frame subjects with it. That’s one factor; another is the ocean’s current. I suppose I probably was also at least a little taken aback by the steady gaze of 20 creatures who seemed quite interested in watching me.