15
April
On Writing
01
April
Zipline in the Time of Social Distancing
We’re being advised, in this scary environment, to stay home, wash hands every ten minutes and phones every thirty, wipe down all deliveries, doorknobs, closet handles faucets, armrests, computer keyboards and eyeglasses with a solution of over 65% alcohol, to kiss no one and stay...
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05
March
20
February
Remembering Joseph Shambalala, Founder of South Africa’s Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Last week, Joseph Shabalala, Founder and Choral Director of the iconic South African musical group, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, died at the age of 78. At the direction of South Africa’s President Cyril Rhamaposa, Shabalala will be buried on February 22 in a Special Official Funeral...
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05
December
Gifts of Grande Dame Oak
I have written elsewhere about the regal Grande Dame Oak Tree that towers over our home. Her beauty, serenity and patience as she stands rooted in place. Her sense of humor as she teases us, using our roof for seasonal target practice, honing her acorn...
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18
November
Moments in Time
The hallway is filled with photographs of the departed. Not only the dead, but those who, for reasons too numerous and complex to enumerate, have drifted away in the currents of time. Even those who are still living are no longer the people portrayed in the...
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27
October
Gardens and Grandchildren
Yesterday was planting day, the day allium and tulip bulbs of various hue and shape find their places in my garden. In preparation, my wife and I pore over on-line catalogues, ordering bulbs that complement what I harvested from my flower beds and stored for...
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19
October
The Mapparium: A View from the Heart of the World
Visitors to Boston walk the Freedom Trail, visit the Old North Church and our gilded State House, but we who live here are often the last to visit the treasures of our history. Included among them is The Mapparium at the Mary Baker Eddy Library,...
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13
October
Where Anything is Possible
It is midday. Mid-September. An in-between season. Time has paused. We are at that indefinable point when all the air has been exhaled, but the next inhalation has not yet begun...
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28
September
As Acorns Fall
The huge oak tree towering over our house has a wonderful sense of humor. When she feels we are insufficiently grateful for her shade, she waves her many slender arms and showers her multiple-lobed leaves down on us. I hear her wheezy laughter soughing in...
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