February 2019 We met in the mists of time, and though he did not see me as clearly as I saw him, he saw me well enough to know that I...

January 2019 I used to call this culinary creation The Paste-ee, not Past-ee, to tease my husband. This recipe is one that I found in a newspaper, long ago. It is the Cornish pastie, and it is a cultural treasure of the Cornish people. The history of the pastie goes back to the days of mining in Cornwall, England. Each miner would carry his pastie in a lunchbox, a metal pail that had a space specifically designed for this meat-and-potato pie. The miner would heat the metal p

Happy New Year 2019 I don’t go to Reno anymore; I go to Zappos. It’s a pass line bet, each time that I order any pair of shoes or boots...

17 December 2018 I awoke this morning at 7 or so. This awakening was not a matter of being fully awake. I did not open my eyes. My...

Giving Thanks 2018 The United States of America began as the City Upon a Hill that Puritan John Winthrop described in his essay in 1630, a full decade after the Pilgrims founded Plymouth Colony in America in 1620. As Protestants, the Pilgrims fled religious persecution in England, voyaging by that ship called The Mayflower across the Atlantic Ocean. Miraculously, they made it to shore. The tale of the Pilgrims and their Plimouth Plantation is all that anyone needs to know abo

November 2018 It’s autumn in California, and in Toronto — and in Provence. This autumn 2018, the French translation of BOOK 3, Guillaume,...

All Saint’s Day 2018 Webster’s New World Dictionary, Second College Edition, defines “anonymous” thusly: 1. with no name known or...

18 October 2018 The question was simple and direct enough. The answer was not. Sometime during the mid-1980s, my co-worker and friend,...

Bard of Scotland The Bard of Ayshire, also known as the Bard of Scotland, was born on 25 January 1759 in Alloway, Scotland to William and...

Mid-October 2018 Coming-of-Age: Unintentional Training Since I am not a morning person, I need to warm up to my first meal of the day....

Late September 2018 We live in times that feel instantaneous and yet the tempo of our lives is neither faster nor slower than it was for...

Autumn 2018 I begin this autumnal essay with a few divine quotes about the nature of friendship. “Friendship is a plant of slow growth and must undergo and withstand the shock of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation.” — George Washington “Not every soil can bear all things.” — Virgil “What I enjoy is not the fruits alone, but I also enjoy the soil itself, its nature and power.” — Cicero Approximately twenty years ago, I was stoically explaining to a teaching co

Labor Day 2018 September Songs: Instrumental Gems As a singer, I can not easily avow that there are some songs that sound much better as...

Heatwave 2018 This morning while Dear Husband was out walking the hound, I decided to call him on my Me-Phone. I noticed, as the outgoing...

August 2018 My Naked Feet: Where Have All the Good Shoes Gone? I have an Egyptian foot. I did not always know that I possess such a...

Dog Days of Summer 2018 People have asked me at times why the Beagle is my hound-of-choice, my dog-of-preference. I could say things like...

August 2018 Rule Britannia Vive la France Hooray for the Red, White, and Blue On this ten-year anniversary of when I first began to write THE DAWN, I’d like to offer some insights into why I even composed this momentous tome. Please pull up a chair and enjoy these thoughts. One reason, among many, that I began to write THE DAWN was my sense, post 9/11, that Europe was collapsing, but not in the ways that the dooms-dayers have been saying for over a century. Not even in the wa

July 2018 Update Because of my aversion to Digital Yellow Journalism, I have taken to asking Dear Husband for any crisis updates, news...

July 2018 The promo for NOCTURNE begins: “The worlds of medicine and music collide in NOCTURNE . . .” During an earlier phase of my life,...