A Toast to Paul Shoul

We went to a party tonight at John and Andrea's in Florence where many familiar faces were seen. I made everyone give a toast to our friend Paul Shoul who is recovering in a Boston hospital. Best wishes Paul, we hope to see you back in Western Mass very soon!

Shoul's Laughter Echoed off the Fjord's Cliffs

Paul Shoul's writing is a delight. That's because he approaches it with the same zeal and enthusiasm that he uses to create wonderful photographs. I am going to be traveling with Shoul again in January, when we take a trip to Melbourne Australia. Here is a snip from his latest story on GoNOMAD about fishing for cod in Greenland.

"The lines have a heavy weight on the end and four or five bright colored lures running up it. For the next two hours we fish. Sometimes there is nothing and then suddenly the cod are coming in fast and everyone is catching them.

They are big fish but classically give up when they are hooked and you just have to haul them in. I don’t want to brag but the rest of my group was getting pretty teed off at me for the number of fish I was catching. I was even catching them on the way down. I caught 13 in total.

When we had caught more than we could possibly eat, Bo started to fillet them at the back of the boat and then started cooking. The meal for the evening would consist of big chunks of flaky white Cod, new potatoes in butter sauce and parsley, white wine and a case of Greenlandic beer, made with the cleanest water in the world. Floating on the ocean, eating the freshest fish, drinking the best beer and wine with a view that just cannot be matched anywhere in the world.

Our laughter echoed off the fjord cliffs."

Snake River Canyon, Idaho

I was pleased to read a draft of new GoNOMAD blogger Paul Shoul's story about his trip to Boise. I was even more pleased when I saw his collection of photos, which, as usual, are stunning and fit right in with his text. Shoul understands the tone and tenor of how a GoNOMAD article should sound, and he mixes in many of his interactions with locals and this gives the stories his own unique flavor. Here is one of his outstanding shots. You'll see the article on GoNOMAD in about a week.