For a person who doesn’t really like to drive, I’ve spent most of my life doing it. I’ve had a driver’s license since I was 14. Back in the 1960s in Texas, a teenager could take driver’s ed in school at 13, get… Read More
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All posts filed under “history”
The Upside of Down Under
Isolation. It has a long and honored history for promoting profound insight, spriritual renewal and moral courage. For centuries, philosophers, poets, mystics, scientists and holy men and women in every culture have discovered that only by withdrawal from the world can one see more clearly into… Read More
Via Dolorosa
Today is Palm Sunday. For millions and millions of Christians all over the world, it marks the beginning of a week-long spiritual reflection on Christ’s passion and resurrection, culminating in the celebration of Easter Sunday. Those who are not Christian, nor even especially religious at… Read More
Have a Heart
“Sweetheart, dear heart, heart-to-heart, soft heart, half-hearted…” It must be Valentine’s Day because hearts are everywhere: on greeting cards, in shop windows, on candy boxes, in home decorations. A local gourmet grocer is even advertising a hefty ribeye steak that has been butterflied… Read More
Seeing Red
If you’ve already broken your New Year’s resolutions and are already bummed out by bad weather and bad news, take heart: you have a chance at a do-over. The Chinese New Year begins this weekend and will continue for about two weeks. Celebrations are… Read More
Digital Detox
Above: “Vision Catcher,” by Leslie Dill (1995) Siri is making me nervous. Ever since the latest updates on my I-phone, she has begun to speak… Read More
Beacons of Light
The lighthouse: a symbol of hope, a sign of safety, an icon of our seafaring past. By most estimates, there are approximately 700 lighthouses in America of which roughly 75 percent are still operational. Except for the very first lighthouse, the Boston Light… Read More
Close To Home
Halloween is commonly considered a time when the barrier between the physical and the supernatural worlds is especially fluid. The late fall holiday has its origins in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when the dead were thought to freely roam the earth. People… Read More
Friday Night Sounds
For most people, the sounds of fall are rustling leaves, a whispering wind, or maybe the mournful whistle of a distant train. For me as a girl growing up, the unmistakable sounds of fall were the cheering crowds, the drumming bands, and the exuberant… Read More
Farther Off 5th
The harvest moon has been glowing beautifully in the evenings here in the last official week of fall. It’s still hot outside, of course, but the days have taken on a fallish flavor, slightly cooler, slightly duskier, slightly less intense. The mood has prompted… Read More
