I am preparing for our trip to Richmond Virginia in early March to explore the American Civil War from the point of view of eloquent first-hand witnesses, Walt Whitman (Union) and Mary Chestnut (Confederate). My mind is attuned to material not just about the bloodiest conflict in American history, but […]
My most pleasurable reading is invariably returning to a beloved novel, poem, essay, or story for another visit. It is then I often discover details or information or an exquisite turn of phrase that eluded me during an earlier encounter. Sometimes, it is an entirely different book – like reading Anna […]
Today, when I was proofing Lisa Pasold’s GUEST BLOG on her walks four our Belle Epoque trip to Paris, I came across this phrase, “…writer Emile Zola—whose famed letter J’Accuse courageously spear-headed the defense of Jewish army officer Alfred Dreyfus.” I paused at the word defense. Should it be defence? I […]
I was musing last night, over a sumptuous Galician meal of many courses, that I know of no other place where persons of all ages, nationalities, faiths (or non), levels of income, and political persuasions come together in such harmony. We remain distinctly different from one another, but something about […]
I leave for the airport in a couple hours, en route to Spain, for the Camino trip. I go directly from there to Vietnam. In selecting literature to discuss in Vietnam, I consulted a professor of Vietnamese literature who teaches in California. We soon discovered, from our tour operator in […]
We shall not cease from exploration And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time. T.S. Eliot — “Little Gidding” (the last of his Four Quartets) Why do I travel? Why do you travel? Others have said […]
I received an email the other day from Toronto friend, Sergio (aka Serge) Vazquez, who is making his second attempt at walking the Camino in his native Spain. I find his account inspiring and beautifully written. I pass it along for those who will be joining me on the Camino […]
In an earlier post, where I listed our Travel Pursuits plans for 2013, I included a thumbnail image of Edouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur L’Herbe (1863) to represent our Belle Epoque trip to Paris. Almost immediately, I received this lovely poem from Kathleen Kirk in Normal, IL. Woman in the Water […]
Much as I wish it were otherwise, our human world often appears to operate according to the laws of the jungle, where might and power prevail over kindness and compassion. My spirits were, therefore, lifted high by a piece in the Toronto Star this past Saturday. It was is a […]
Not one of Flora’s brilliant race A form more perfect can display; Art could not feign more simple grace Nor Nature take a line away. – James Montgomery, On Planting a Tulip-Root Everybody thinks that tulips come from Holland. Actually, Tulips are native to Central Asia and Turkey. In the […]