Author Archives: JT Hine

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About JT Hine

A writer and translator who carries his office and his world in the panniers of his bicycle.

We are what we eat

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Trip update: Since returning to Formia two weeks ago, I have been busy planning and packing. There will be a trip to Bologna at the end of February, from which I will ride down the Via Adriatica to see my friends on that coast on the way back to Formia. biscotti-amarena-napoletaniI will go back to Bologna in early April for the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. River Run 2017 takes off from there. Before I leave, everything in the apartment must be disposed of or shipped. My favourite ride has been the day-dreamer to Mondragone for biscotti all’amarena, a 63 km round trip to my favourite childhood pastry. Continue reading →

Sea story: Don’t inhale! (1967)

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1967-pri-flyAt the Naval Academy, the summers before our Third Class (sophomore) and First Class (senior) years were devoted to afloat training, with the 3/c filling enlisted billets on ships and the 1/c trying junior officer roles. This summer as Midshipmen Second Class, we were learning “everything else”. We went to Primary Flight Training (“Pri-Fly”) in Pensacola, Florida, to Amphibious warfare training at Camp Pendleton, Virginia, and to Submarine School in Groton, Connecticut,. I told you about Pri-Fly back on 21 May 2016 (https://freewheelingfreelancer.com/2016/05/21/sea-story-pri-fly-1967/).  After learning how to fly, we headed north to Submarine School.  Continue reading →

Hello? Can you hear me now?

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img_20170108_134318Two weeks ago, I changed my status and profile on the Warmshowers (www.warmshowers.org) and Couchsurfing (www.couchsurfing.com) websites. I have been “unavailable to host” since leaving Charlottesville almost two years ago. I decided to try hosting in my totally inadequate place in Formia. Almost immediately, I had three requests. I accepted the second two, when I realized that we could make it work. Continue reading →

Sea story: pearl in a power play (1982)

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1982-bahrain-pearlsBahrain is an island country, half way up the Persian Gulf. It shines like a white pearl in the shimmering blue water, almost in sight of the Arabian coast. Before the discovery of oil, pearl- diving was its main industry, and pearls still figure prominently in its culture. Continue reading →

Living and working abroad: my bookmark list.

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My workstation

My workstation

Trip update: This week brought high winds and rain on three of the seven days. With westerly gusts of 27 knots and occasional frog-choking downpours, I worked indoors, and walked to the Tempo Prezioso Literary Café for my WiFi connection. This cozy café opened up less than a month ago. img_20170119_144412It features comfortable sofas and chairs, abundant outlets and a powerful WiFi signal. Of course, all the usual offerings of an Italian bar are there, from espresso to the harder stuff. I can eat a tramezzino and put off supper until they close and I walk back to the flat. After the storm front passed, the hills above 300 metres had a dusting of snow. Continue reading →

Sea story: The Rug Merchant Meets His Match (1974)

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1973-tangierWhen USS Little Rock (CLG-4), the Sixth Fleet flagship pulled into Tangiers, Morocco at the end of January, I had a more important mission than building US-Moroccan relations (which I helped do anyway). This was one of the few ports where my wife Carol (a singer with the Sixth Fleet Music Show) would not be with me. She had issued clear-cut orders to come home with a handmade wool Moroccan rug. Not some little runner for the hall, but a full-sized beauty to lie beneath the entire living room ensemble. Continue reading →

“I never repeat a mistake, but …”

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img_20170101_000313Trip update: At 2230, the phone interrupted Gideon Oliver just as he was about to solve the crime. I stood up from the eBook I was reading and went to the phone. Timoteo Lamkin was inviting me to celebrate the New Year from the family balcony overlooking the fireworks on the Gulf of Gaeta. I had planned to spend a quiet evening hiding from the war zone and its fog of cordite, but I was touched that they would think of me. And so I greeted the New Year in the company of friends and waved a dozen sparklers myself. Continue reading →

California Dreamin’

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dscn2850Halloween, 2016. The sun was well up when I awoke. I luxuriated for a while in my sleeping bag, then leapt up, aware than I had less than 20 hours to finish everything needed before leaving for the ATA Conference on the other side of the world.
My friends the Lamkins had been checking my mail, which was stacked on the kitchen table. After turning on the water, purging the gas lines in the stovetop, and opening the house, I cut open the boxes and envelopes. Continue reading →

Barcelona to Formia: home at last.

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dscn2676Friday, 28 October 2016. Barcelona is blessed with large city markets in each major neighbourhood. They are a favourite target for Cheryl’s camera, especially in the morning, when the fish are plentiful and the produce is fresh. In the morning, she raced off to photograph the Boqueria market behind our hotel, while I got the next blog post drafted. Continue reading →

Ronda to Barcelona, via Mallorca

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2016-dawn-over-rondaWednesday, 19 October 2016. The sky was turning from black to indigo then to blue. We got up too early for the hotel breakfast, and rode into Ronda. By now the train station in the capital of the Pueblos Blancos was familiar. Yet, the day was not off to a good start. The ticket agent, backed by the various personnel in the station, did not want us to take the train to Granada. It turned out that the train station in Granada is being renovated, and that there was a substitute bus service for the last three stops on the line. They insisted that the buses would not take bicycles. Continue reading →