Most Americans are descendants of individuals who left their homelands due to discrimination, famine, greed, poverty, war, or (in the case of many with Irish and African roots) colonial dispossession or enslavement. Perhaps the restless longing for a homeland and community—a reassuring sense of rootedness—is what shapes the American character?
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The Commission
Monsieur Lacépede knocked lightly so as not to disturb the meeting, pushed the door open with his shoulder, set down a silver tray with Sèvres porcelain – two cups of coffee and a plate with four madeleines – on the table between them, and discreetly departed…
Snow Happy
Here I sit on a friend’s terrace in southern Switzerland’s Lötchental, enjoying a postcard view of the Alps…
Cause and Effect
A friend just sent me an email containing a scan of her most recent black and white drawing. Her drawings and paintings often convey a still, contemplative mood, and this one made me cry unexpectedly…
Wish Fulfillment
Have you ever wished for something for as long as you can remember? Not with an intense, burning desire, but more with a relaxed, unconscious, and unexpectant vigilance…
Mme Chocolat
The sun shone and the humid air felt crisp as I walked down rue Notre-Dame-des-Champs, where Hemingway and, earlier, a host of Nordic artists once lived…
Wayward Youth
In eleventh grade, I experienced at first hand my first adult incidence of undeserved compassion and it changed my life…
Local Food
You know those experiences that occur so unexpectedly, ones you couldn’t have envisioned when you woke up that—or any other—morning, ever? Experiences so wonderful that they wrest you from your normal state of mind, regardless of how mindful it might be? Experiences that remind you of how infinitely varied the world seems, despite its perilously… Continue reading Local Food
Grateful Progeny
My father always kept me engaged and entertained. Whether it entailed planting flowers in the garden, spending Saturday afternoons sitting cross-legged on the floor of the public library…
Appreciating Maillol
We all possess essential facets to our character that remain unknown unless the right person reveals them to the world through an anecdote, don’t we?