PinnedWhat next?What’s my power, now that I’m eight years retired from a job I thought of as heaven — dancing with children from around the world? Who am I now that I’m closer to whatever heaven represents — an end to being me? My mother died at 89, Dad at 81…Retirement3 min read
PinnedGone to SeaIt’s been a blessing, this idea of going to sea. It came to us from Ireland, not COVID. A year ago, when international travel was still a thing, we came home from watching sunsets over foreign seas to explore waters to the west. …Covid Diaries4 min read
May 4, 2021A Man of MoroccoThis story is from Before the Pandemic, when we were still traveling overseas. Honored as best non-fiction and printed by the Nassau Review for distribution in May of 2020, it wound up boxed and locked in a closet when most of New York shut down and the journal lost its…15 min read
Oct 21, 2019Cruising the heart of IrelandDiscovering the green & the blue — “Congratulations on your 50th trip on the River Shannon!” read a banner over the desk in the boat office as we arrived. The congratulations were not for us. This was our first. Having circled Ireland’s outer edges two years ago, we were heading for a passage through the midlands, along…Travel8 min read
Sep 27, 2019In sight of Croagh PatrickWandering western Ireland — First thing I checked each morning, out the upstairs window facing west: Can we see Croagh Patrick? Is its elegant triangle on the horizon? Do shrubs point their shadows across the fields in its direction? Or is it obscured by the weather? It’s Ireland, mid-September. Croagh Patrick is Ireland’s holiest…Travel14 min read
Apr 2, 2019Where are you now?my aunt asks when I call. “We’re still in Lisbon.” “Still?” She says, with a tone that speaks an unasked question: What do you do for so long, in a place you’ve been before?Memoir7 min read
Feb 17, 2019Snow and birdsWe were lucky to get out of town. First, I worried about the government shutdown and back-ups at the airport. Then, flights were canceled…Travel5 min read
Nov 12, 2017Lisbon answers a question or twoLeaving home, I had some questions. After loving Lisbon a year ago, we came again this year to dwell a bit. We unpacked our bags to enjoy two weeks without an early-morning launch toward another destination. …Lisbon7 min read
Nov 30, 2016What caught my eye……in Tuscany’s October or Paris in November? Last time, my first, Tuscany was April, and May came along in Paris. They were warm and sunny, lush and green. That time, I was charmed by the somber weight of time in Tuscany’s hill towns. …Paris6 min read
