In the 15th century, China had a fleet of huge, ornate ships. They weren’t built for speed or war,n they were an ostentatious display of luxury and opulence. They were much bigger than the practical craft which carried the European explorers on their voyages of discovery. They were floating advertisements for trade with China, a … Continue reading Aerial Treasure Ships? →

That’s the liturgical season that comes after Epiphany, which ends today, February 2. We all know “ordinary” means quotidian, uninteresting. But it also means ..basic, reliable, and relating to a duty attached to one’s office or station in life. F’rinstance, it used to refer to the standard bill of fare of an inn or restaurant. … Continue reading February 2: Ordinary Time →

“Neither with praise not with blame shall ye judge the poor farmer”…begins Christopher LaFarge’s novel in verse, Hoxsie Sells His Acres (1934), and continues “Praise not nor blame not,—but try to recapture the essence, Tell your children the story, explain the elusive Troublesome thing that gives to each word that they utter Something of quality, … Continue reading Elegy →

Being a professional in America used to be a very cool thing. It was never that way in the Olde Countrie: doctors were just tradesmen who had to enter the great houses through the servants’ entrance, and lawyers, divided into barristers and solicitors, didn’t enjoy high status either. Look at Sydney Carton in the first … Continue reading The Doctors’ Plot and “Kill all the lawyers!” →

..today, since my father died. This is really depressing, when your parents have been dead that long already. He was a big man, a large presence, unfailingly kind, a doctor, a lay minister, a philanthropist, handsome, splendid. Readers, I wish you could have known him. Everyone who did was happier for the experience. Memoro.

If you’re not religious, it occurs to me on this first anniversary of bereavement, you don’t have to ask WHY?!?! There is no why and you know that. There is only biology. We are finite organisms programmed to self-destruct at a certain point. If we get the three score and ten, we’re lucky. I know … Continue reading Grief →

…Shakespeare’s Sonnet 33, that is. I woke this morning, looked out on my favorite vista across the fields, and, all unbidden, thought, “Full many a glorious morning have I seen”. What I was thinking was, how lucky I am to still be alive , to still be here, and to have been here so long, … Continue reading 33 and Me →

I just got banned again. Ammo Grrrl over on Powerline wrote a funny column about a Japanese guy who identifies в a collie, and in the process she commented about tampons in Mens’ rooms. so I sez: Hey, tampons in Mens’ rooms are necessary, okay? What if the frozen tomato sauce cube you’ve inserted in … Continue reading Strike up the Banned →

If you suffer from post-Christmas letdown, I recommend you take a trip to Spain for the last 7 or 8 days of Christmas, through Epiphany (January 6). Because there, the season is just beginning on Dec 26! They’re kinda in denial about winter. The sidewalk tables are outside all year, and it doesn’t matter if … Continue reading But Wait, There’s Myrrh! →

“My life closed twice before its close It yet remains to see If Immortality unveil A third event to me. So huge, so hopeless to foresee As those that twice befell- Parting is all we know of Heaven, And all we need of Hell. “—Emily Dickinson The first was that January 8 years ago, when … Continue reading Anniversary →