The Feral Scribe’s Top 10 of 2010

Year in review features are the best, the way they wax all nostalgic on events we grew tired of hearing about as they happened the first time. These neatly packaged retrospectives of natural disasters, sensational events, celebrity deaths and questionable news captivate us all over again. In the last week I’ve seen and read so many lists, rundowns, roundups, recaps and reviews I can practically recite 2010 like I can the Pledge of Allegiance.

Like the world, I had a pretty exciting 2010, as well. And I’m looking forward to a very active and even more adventurous 2011. But before looking forward, I’ll take a moment myself to wax all nostalgic on 2010. In the spirit of recaps, the list below revisits some Feral Scribe travel highlights from the previous year.

1. Retired bank robber Gerald Heckathorn discusses his fugitive travels.
2. Outside of a laundry mat in La Grange, KY, I meet Bill, who was dying of cancer and had never stepped north of the Mason-Dixon line.
3. After befriending hippies in Indianapolis, the day turns into a long, strange trip.
4. Returning to Wisconsin, a friend and I spend a day in Lynxville, a special, but unremarkable place.
5. For eight weeks, The Feral Scribe travels with a carnival in Wisconsin, filing regular dispatches about life as a carny.
6. For Ahmed Etemish, the journey from Iraq to America was bloody and tragic.
7. Back at work after five months of living on the road, I’m afflicted with Post Traumatic Stillness Disorder.
8. On the eve of his sentencing, federal inmate Brent Delzer discusses what it’s like the day before losing your freedom.
9. Intrigued by a neighborhood under siege by drugs, prostitution and a serial killer, I hop the train to Kensington, Philadelphia, where an unlikely acquaintance walks me to the murder scene.
10. Comments on New Yorker magazine’s power to keep aircraft aloft.