This year, I decided to join in a new kind of blog activity for me, the "One Word" community at Lisa Notes. As far as I can tell, this involves choosing one word to engage with during the year, mindfully following it as a thread through life's ups and downs and distractions. Once a month … Continue reading One Word for 2022
After I moved to Switzerland, digestive issues that had previously been annoying but manageable ramped up and made me quite miserable. So I tried eliminating a variety of foods in various combinations, at the most extreme point being unable to eat anything except vegetables (and not all of those either). This was depressing. Living in … Continue reading My gluten-free life (with a recipe)
Retable of the life of the Virgin, anonymous, c. 1480 At the turning point of timethe spirit light of the worldentered the stream of earth-existence.Darkness of nighthad ceased its reign;day-radiant lightshone forth in human souls.LightThat gives warmthTo simple shepherds' hearts;lightthat enlightensthe wise heads of kings. Light divine,Christ-Sun,warm our hearts,enlighten our heads,that good may becomewhat from … Continue reading Shepherds and Kings, warmth and light
Back in October, when winter was already approaching in our region, we spent a couple of weeks exploring and looking for sunshine in Ticino, the Italian part of Switzerland. It can only be reached by going over or under the Alps -- we spent 15 minutes driving through the Gotthard Tunnel, a wonder of modern … Continue reading Postcards from Switzerland: Ticino
Back in July, we spent about a week in the Goms Valley region of the Alps -- we had planned to do some hiking, but as it ended up being shortly after my gallbladder surgery I couldn't move around much, plus the weather was very wet. So we spent most of our time relaxing in … Continue reading Postcards from Switzerland: Muenster
A few weeks ago we found ourselves with some time on our hands in Fribourg, a largish city (for Switzerland) that's grown up around a well-preserved medieval center. The city is built upon both sides of the deep gorge cut by the river Saane; up on the cliffs still sit the ancient fortresses and monasteries, … Continue reading Postcards from Switzerland: Fribourg
A couple of other places you can find posts by me this week: At Shiny New Books a review of a powerful new novel set in the brothels of ancient Pompeii, The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper. And my essay "Seeking the Honey of Life" was published in Kosmos Quarterly. I'm honored to be part … Continue reading Enchanted elsewhere
For English speakers, one of the main hazards in learning a language like French or German is the existence of informal and formal versions for the second person (you). This used to be part of English as well -- "thou" was informal, though now it sounds extra formal and archaic to our ears. However, this … Continue reading A formal feeling
The images in this poem were inspired by Goethe's "Fairy Tale of the Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily," a mysterious story with great archetypal resonance. I can't think of a better way to celebrate Mother's Day than to ponder such mysteries -- nothing is more wondrous than the power to gestate, bear and bring … Continue reading Mother: A Poem
After a couple of weeks away from blogging, I'm happy to be back with some more pictures to share with you. These are from Davos, a town in the mountains of Eastern Switzerland that was once famous as a tuberculosis health resort and still draws lots of outdoor enthusiasts. We visited in the very last … Continue reading Postcards from Switzerland: Davos
