place: infrared sauna
time: c. 2016

Everybody ends up here eventually — naked and alone, inside a wooden box.

Okay, maybe not specifically here, which is an infrared sauna at a spa in midtown Toronto. Seduced by promises and possibilities of a relaxing touch-free, people-less experience that might take the edge off of existence, we’ve willing put ourselves in a box and pay for the privilege of it.

The specific sequence of events that brought us into a 4ft x 6ft heated chamber is inconsequential. Let’s say there’s a brief history of recurring sciatic nerve pain. Let’s say it’s the…

place: montgomery county courthouse, montgomery, alabama

time: c. 1990

Welcome to the Montgomery County Courthouse and Administration Building in historic downtown Montgomery, Alabama. Is it in the heart of the historic district? Write-ups about places frequently pin destinations as being in the heart of a larger location, which stirs up questions about land anatomy and whether other destinations could be located in the pancreas or the spleen of a town. Maybe the Montgomery County Courthouse and Administration Building is in the cerebral cortex of Alabama’s capital city, this mid-century marvel being home to the county’s public records archive. If someone…

place: orlando vineland premium outlet

time: c. 2004

At the end of the line for the I-Ride Trolley, we reach our destination for the day. Here we are at the Orlando Premium Outlet, just off International Drive and Interstate 4. Look across the parking lot and wave to the tourists speeding along en route to the Walt Disney World resort area. Or maybe they’re headed to Old Town in Kissimmee. Or they missed an exit and are meant to be speeding along to Cocoa Beach to embark on a Caribbean cruise. Two of those cars just missed the exit to…