Part One When I returned to the United States in 2013 after two decades living in France and England, I suffered disorienting culture shock. I had returned multiple times to visit family, traveling the length of California, and later, a triangle of southern California to northern California to Raleigh, North Carolina, flying when necessary, driving when… Continue reading Who Are We Anyway?
Category: Articles
Another Remembrance Day —
I watch from my window as the man who lives across the street emerges from the green door of his 17th century home. He is slightly bent over, but walks briskly, dressed in a neat, pressed black suit instead of the old gray anorak he usually wears. Bernard and I follow a few minutes later,… Continue reading Another Remembrance Day —
Happy Pills
Something amazing happened last Valentine’s Day. I was listening to music a friend sent me- and I started to cry. Real sobs from the gut, unstoppable. And I hadn’t cried like that in a long time. That feeling artists sing about, the yearning, the total immersion in the beloved, is so ephemeral, and ultimately, too capacious… Continue reading Happy Pills
Noise
Antigua, Willoughby Bay. The waves here are gentle. They slide in, nestle against the sand, pause for a millisecond, pull away, only to return, relentless, like love-struck suitors who can’t stay away from the beloved. The trade winds bump against the palmetto leaves, which rattle and click against each other, gossiping,whispering, never still. These… Continue reading Noise
Christmas in California……..
I love the weather in California. Yesterday I walked to the village under a sun so warm that the light sweater I was wearing was too much. The temperature rose to 80F (26.6 C) from 60F (15C) or below for several days the week before. Nights are coldish to cool right now, which means I… Continue reading Christmas in California……..
Follow the yellow brick road —
You travelled down a a pretty tree-lined street to reach Janet’s house – it might as well have been Oz to me, coming as I did from the other end of town where homes were a little more modest. It had a small front yard and a very big back one, with fruit trees and… Continue reading Follow the yellow brick road —
In With the New
I am starting anew yet again, this time closer to my roots. Not France, or England or even North Carolina, but California. Now, what I see outside the west window of my study is a lush Jacaranda tree, not the ancient stone wall in front of the chestnut, fir and beech trees of my… Continue reading In With the New
We are into a cold snap, 2010, But —-
Reprinted from The Times: Weather The winter of ’47: I’ve borrowed a balaclava helmet from Fred to wear in bed! This winter seems bad but the freeze of 1947, the worst in living memory, tested the resolve of war-weary Britons to the limit, The big freeze: Derbyshire bus stuck in a snow drift Photo: Hulton-Deutsch Collection… Continue reading We are into a cold snap, 2010, But —-
The Anchoress of Shere, Christine Carpenter
We had our very own Anchoress back in the 14th century. She lived in Ash and Willow cottages down by the Tillingbourne , the river which runs through the village, and her father was a carpenter by the name of William. Her name was Christine; the cottages are still there, lived in by generations of… Continue reading The Anchoress of Shere, Christine Carpenter
Battle of Britain
It is the 70th anniversary of Britain’s entry into war against Germany, and the battle of Britain took place. In honor of the brave young pilots who fought so valiantly and brilliantly, a Hurricane and a Spitfire landed at one of the airports used as an airfield back then. It isn’t too far from us;… Continue reading Battle of Britain