Why Returning to Our Roots is so Meaningful
Why is it so meaningful to return to your roots? To where your ancestors are from? To visit places you only know from stories and pictures? I’ve asked myself that every [...]
23
Feb, 2018
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May, 2017
Book Companion Post: Filling in the Blanks on Family History
These past few days I have been able to do what I love best in my writing life: rummage around in family history. I've been rewriting an essay that O [...]
31
Oct, 2016
Gravestone Errors & Corrections
While we were visiting Minute Man National Historical Park last weekend, we stopped for lunch in the nearby colonial town of Concord, where I noticed two old graveyards in the [...]
28
Oct, 2016
Photo of the Week: Firing a Musket
I didn't realize firing a musket generates that much smoke! Well I guess I did when I think about images from movies like Glory, but to see it happen for [...]
28
Mar, 2016
The Power of Keeping a Promise to Yourself
St. George's Monastery, Wadi Qelt Always, always, I have wanted to see the Greek Orthodox monasteries of Marsaba and St. George, built into the cliffs of the Judean Hills. But [...]
27
Mar, 2015
Sunrise @ Masada
Escapism is in order! I have been frustrated and uninspired after months of querying and not finding a home for my memoir manuscript. In addition, one obligation is following another, [...]
8
Mar, 2015
Sunday Sentence
Another Sunday in which I participate in the Sunday Sentence Project(#SundaySentence on Twitter): "I held my breath at the miracle of my mother forgetting herself." from Sheymes, A Family Album [...]
4
Dec, 2014
Farewell to an Old Pot
Why, I ask myself, is it so hard to say good-bye to an old pot? I know why, actually, but I still keep mulling over it because it strikes me [...]
23
Nov, 2014
Sunday Sentence
Another Sunday in which I participate in the Sunday Sentence Project (#SundaySentence on Twitter): "There is no collection that documents a person's life from moment of birth to moment of death. [...]
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Feb, 2014
Monticello in Winter
While I was at the VCCA, I visited Monticello, President Thomas Jefferson's estate. It is near Charlottesville, a good hour's drive from the VCCA. I happened to go on one [...]
25
Jul, 2013
A Trip to Bishop Hill (2)
Spinning wheel at the Steeple Building, Bishop Hill, Illinois On our visit to Bishop Hill, my friend Barbara and I spent a considerable amount of time in the Steeple Building, [...]
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Jul, 2013
A Trip to Bishop Hill (1)
Bishop Hill Post Office These days I am itching for some serenity, probably because my family's summer schedule isn't really a schedule. As soon as I'm into a new routine, [...]
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Jul, 2013
Rebecca McClanahan on Writing about Family
With her memoir The Tribal Knot - A Memoir of Family, Community and a Century of Change, RebeccaMcClanahan did what many of us wish we would do – "do something" [...]
11
Dec, 2012
A Menorah in Karlsruhe, Germany
Chanukah Menorah at the Christkindlmarkt in Karlsruhe, Germany, December 8, 2012 - photo courtesy of Juergen Schlund Today I am extra thrilled to host one of my best longtime and [...]
10
Dec, 2012
My Most Meaningful Read of 2012
Last Thursday evening I participated in the #StoryDam chat (lots of fun if you're a writer and on Twitter), and one participant pointed out Rebecca Murphy's Relish12 challenge as a [...]
9
Nov, 2012
In Memory of Kristallnacht
The "Temple of the Israelite Cultural Community" in Reichenberg, burned down during Kristallnacht November 9-10 marks the anniversary of Kristallnacht, when in 1938 in all the territories controlled by the [...]
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Sep, 2012
Photo Essay: Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Kentucky
Bonnet on a peg board at Shaker Village - if only life could be this tidy. Last weekend I stole away from the Kentucky Women Writers Conference and spent [...]
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May, 2012
Photo Essay: Shanghai – The Bund
The Bund at night - the clock tower building is the former Customs House, farther along you see the green steepled roof of the Peace Hotel. Typical tourist pictures of [...]
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May, 2012
Reading: The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal
Edmund de Waals' memoir The Hare with Amber Eyes was my favorite memoir of 2011, and yet I am still trying to figure out why because it defies so many of the [...]
14
Jan, 2012
Space Camp
My favorite spot at Space Camp this time was the Davidson Center for Space Exploration, a new hall built to exhibit the Saturn V. When I was a space camp [...]
