Gone Yesterday, Here Today
Hi there and happy Labor Day! In a time where the ideas of strength, prosperity and well-being are being re-written to apply only to some, not everyone, I hope you find on this occasion the chance to recognize and give tribute to your own contributions and achievements toward
A Future Forged in Fire
The Endearing (and awesome) Lava Flows of Mount Etna I've been reading a lot about nature lately. One speaks to the universal kind found out there under the big blue sky. Think trees and bodies of water. Overall our engagement with these environments is on the decline, but
This Cruelty of Climate
Let a man walk ten miles steadily on a hot summer's day along a dusty English road, and he will soon discover why beer was invented. — Gilbert K. Chesterton So here we are, back in Sicily now these past couple of months, trying our best to return to
After The Camino
On How To on Surrender to Longing, Forge Meaningful Purpose and Find Your Place in the World When Contentment May Lie in Spending Every Waking Moment Just Walking From One Place to Another I’ll admit it, finishing the Camino has left me in a mental state of uncertainty. Both
The Camino
Hola, just a short hello from the Camino de Santiago. We are, as of this morning, on day nine of thirteen and while our time as pilgrims has been nothing short of amazing—hard and sometimes easy, dry and sometimes wet, uphill and downhill, thought provoking and mind-numbing, already
Pausing, Pilgrim Style
“We have two lives. The second begins the day we realize that we have only one.” – Confucius A few days from now, Franca and I will begin walking the Camino de Santiago in Spain. For anyone not familiar (here’s an entertaining film you’ve probably already seen about it)
A Special Word
From one of our sponsors As you may know, we've had one of our kids here since just before Christmas in order to obtain her Italian citizenship. It's been wonderful having her here—for starters, she's an amazing cook, and also, it's
Pause
That is all. Pause /pôz/ 1 : to stop temporarily, especially due to uncertainty. 2 : to linger for a time. I’ve been thinking a lot about pauses lately. Big ones though. Not those vital, bite-sized interruptions where you deliberately slow down for some predetermined period of time and retreat
Forging A New Purpose
On International Women’s Day Even before turning sixty last Fall and the weight of another new decade plopped itself down on my shoulders, my thoughts turned frequently to the question of purpose. Specifically, what was mine. Indeed, this newsletter is chock full of that subject and my notebooks are
You Spin Me Right Round, Baby, Right Round
“Reading departure signs in some big airport, reminds me of the places I’ve been. Visions of good times that brought so much pleasure make me want to go back again.” —Jimmy Buffett, Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes Hi there! Last week I had the good fortune of spending
Spirit Days
Welcome to 2025, the year of the Snake, number six of the twelve year cycle of animals appearing in the Chinese zodiac, and who’s story goes something like this: A race was held to cross a river, and the order of the animals in the cycle was based upon
Devouring Time
Blunt thou the lion's paws Support my writing with a paid subscription The American poet and novelist Jim Harrison (Legends of the Fall, True North) once said of turning older: "I used to explain to students…the difference between poetry and you is that when you gaze
