Time & Chance…

In this era of global connectivity, universal confinement is something new in the human experience. For many it brings intolerable boredom and chastening pangs of mortal dread. Others pass the time with hobbies, chores, projects… finally cleaning out that attic or the garage. Zoom meetings and binge-watching are high on the list of activities these days. For some this is a time of quiet reflection with stories emerging from distant memories. “Long ago and far away” is always a good start to any tale.

Pictured above, in the village of Lindos on the Greek Island of Rhodes during the spring of 1967. Paul Groesse and I (on the right) were traveling the world and not mis-spending our youth. The man and woman on the left were travelers we encountered by chance at a back street cafe. The young lady in the picture was Linda (never knew her last name). She was from London and was traveling with a girlfriend on a two-week vacation. I don’t remember much about her except she was polite and made for pleasant company. The fellow, Stephen Foehr, had recently finished a two year stint with the Peace Corps in Ethiopia, and was now traveling the world with aspirations of becoming an author.

I first met Stephen Foehr six months earlier on a busy street corner in a gritty section of Cairo, Egypt. Clean shaven and dressed in a well tailored suit, Steve looked somewhat out of place. By contrast I was quite grubby, having just made the rugged journey across North Africa from Morocco. We struck up a conversation in which he spoke of his two years in Ethiopia. He was stationed in a village in the central highlands, where he taught English to children and young adults. He said he wore a suit there every day as a symbol of dignity, which he believed would reinforce his student’s learning experience. I mentioned that I was about to leave the city with a few other travelers for a trip to the Red Sea, and suggested he might want to join us. We all camped for a time on a deserted beach, south of Suez. It was a good time, and afterwards all of us went off in different directions.    

A couple months later, I met up with Paul Groesse in Beirut, Lebanon. An old friend from school days, Paul had just arrived from the States to join me on the road. At that point I was already traveling with a fellow named Jim Steele, with whom I had traveled across North Africa. A few days later, at the Beirut hostel where we were staying, who checked in but Stephen Foehr. Once again, we hung out together for a few days, seeing the sights and trading stories. Then Steve moved on to Damascus, Syria. 

Jim, Paul and I traveled up to the mountains of north Lebanon, looking for jobs at a ski resort near the Cedars or Lebanon. When the jobs didn’t pan out, we started back for Beirut, driving in our old, beat up Volkswagen. Then a snowstorm swept in and choked down the roads. It was touch and go getting to the next mountain town. In that town, the main street was maybe three blocks long and lined with two story buildings on either side, but the whole place seemed empty. The snowstorm became a blizzard. Going building to building, knocking on doors, we finally got the owner of a closed hotel to open it and rent us a room. Other travelers arrived that afternoon. We were all snowed in for four days.

A few months later, Jim, Paul and I went to work on a Kibbutz (collective farm) in Israel. We spent three months there, working hard and enjoying the experience. On our days off, we would go to Tel Aviv where there was a robust cafe society on Dizengoff Street. On one of those days, we were having coffee at a sidewalk cafe when we spotted Stephen Foehr walking towards us. Once again, we all threw in together and agreed to do some exploring in Israel. Taking a break from the Kibuutz, Jim, Paul and I, joined by Steve, spent a couple of weeks traveling and camping together in the Negev Desert and along the Gulf of Aqaba. Then Steve bid us farewell and once again went on his way. 

So on that Greek Island, and for the fourth time in half a year, I (we) had yet another chance encounter with Stephen Foehr. Once again, we all traveled together for a few days and then, once again, we parted ways. None of us ever saw Steve again. 

Stephen Foehr went on to become a successful author and novelist. Through the years, he and I have continued a correspondence.