He called me Macushla, after the 1912 song undoubtedly sung to him as a child by his Irish mother…
Tag: travel
Oh My, Omai!
One of my favorite portraits is Sir Joshua Reynolds’s portrait of Omai, a Tahitian man in his early twenties. Omai had already led an adventurous life before he met Captain James Cook in 1769 and joined his third voyage, which took him to London in October 1774. Although presented as what John Dryden in his… Continue reading Oh My, Omai!
Road Trip
Do you ever, suddenly, get the compelling urge for a road trip? I apparently do…
Romance
Last week, I sent The Pandemic Year in Paris. A Coming-of-Retirement-Age Memoir to the several generous authors who have kindly consented to read, and perhaps endorse, it in advance of its September publication. Here’s a flashback excerpt from Chapter 1:
Educating Whitie
Long ago, I realized that some of my most memorable experiences were those resulting from my choice to do something alone despite hesitating when I couldn’t find someone to join me. Now, I rarely hesitate. One such event occurred two decades ago when I was temporarily immersed in, really, embraced by, Black American culture…
Teaser – Prologue
Arriving in Paris in March 2020, fresh from an eight-week long, solo, soul-searching retreat that took me from the frozen forests of Quebec to the cloud forests of Costa Rica, I found myself stranded and without income in a series of incremental incidents that transformed my carefully planned near-future…
The Lone Pelican
Sometimes incidental observations transport me to unexpected trains of thought. That’s what happened recently…
The Wise Bird
In 1893, Norwegian artist Gerhard Munthe made a watercolor design for a tapestry, one of many. His subject, The Wise Bird, illustrated a Norwegian legend about a king who sought advice from a Wise Bird living in the chestnut forest beside his castle instead of from his courtiers. Munthe pictured the king engaged in conversation with… Continue reading The Wise Bird
My Sacred Grove
Certain places seem to have powerful therapeutic qualities that affect some individuals, and others, not at all.
My Oldest Friend
My oldest friend is my greatest inspiration, even if I’ll never hitchhike alone through North Africa.