Clinging to Relevance
The motel sat back from the road along a tall stretch of longleaf pines where nested, according to the Restricted signs reflected in the Jeep’s headlights, a population of red-cockaded woodpeckers. John David parked beneath the lighted entranceway and turned off the engine and looked at the little dog,
How to Stop Spending Money
A series exploring the decisions, changes, and principles we stuck to that made moving to Sicily possible.
Grounded
In a rhombus of chaff and sunlight perched a gray-haired, old man on a metal stool, his eyes were closed and his head bowed reverently, like some parody of a backwoods preacher in his dusty coveralls and open palms resting on a sprawling conveyor contraption as if communing with the
Hearts of War
Late Summer, early September. Before everything. John David laid splay-legged and barefoot on the bed, wearing only a pair of faded jeans. His arms were guarded and crossed, held snuggly against his bare chest while behind closed lids his eyes flittered about like some restless mayfly. Small. Fitful. Gone. Buzzing
The Dead Lion
Of all the grim journeys a soldier may face none may be more daunting and unpredictable than returning home from war.
Raccolta delle Olive
How Olive Oil Gets Made: Branch to Bottle in Under 4 days We had the incredible experience last week to help some friends in Troina with their olive harvest. Like many things in Sicily, it was a family affair and because these are very special people with very special ways,
The Masters of Mankind II
And The Sinking of the Middle Class Last week, I began this long essay by using a 2nd grade level math problem as a metaphor to describe the manner in which our democracy has been taken over by the people who own society, or as Adam Smith described them in
The Masters of Mankind
And The Erosion of Democracy In last week’s post about Food I mentioned three doctrines—shape ideology, redesign the economy, and marginalize the public—which I had handpicked from the 2016 film on U.S. democracy called, Requiem for the American Dream. In it, Noam Chomsky, one of the
How Quitting a Job 15 Years Ago Made Moving to Sicily Possible
When Quitting is not Quitting, But Just Rebelling Better The final scene in the 2016 film Captain Fantastic involves no words, no gestures, no finishing, fading camera shots. It didn’t involve much of anything, really. Just the turn of a head from a table of children starting their day
Meet Your New Neighbor, Food
There’s no question we need to do better when it comes to feeding a growing population. Kilometer Zero, a program started by the Slow Food Movement, has the potential to not only feed it but reshape the entire world.
The Sword of St. Michael
Does one dog and this small monastery ruin outside the town of Troina hold the key to the Norman conquest over the Arabs in Sicily?