Whisky and Waves
Yo-Ho-Ho
Yo-Ho-Ho! It’s the first weekend in May, and pirates are swarming all over our town. Cutlasses flash, eye patches wink, and silver shoe buckles gleam. “Fire in the hole,” they scream before the canons blast. But we are not held at knifepoint nor forced to walk the...
Going Back
Going Back It was Palm Sunday, March 29th, 1931, when Edith and Willie welcomed their longed-for only child, Molly, to their home. Home was a small farm on an exposed hillside in Yorkshire. Tender-hearted Willie could never bear to kill his pig when it was fattened,...
Weird and Wonderful
Weird and Wonderful I’d guess most of my friends and blog readers think of themselves as animal lovers and curl up of an evening to watch the latest episode of “All Creatures Great and Small,” that comforting TV series set in rural Yorkshire in the 1930s and 40s,...
Not Pie
Not Pie I eased my weight from hip to hip on the torturously uncomfortable chair as French conversation drew to a close. As ever, class had been fascinating, but I was eager to leave and join my church in the Martin Luther King celebration parade. It was a busy day,...
Church Bells
Church Bells Where do you teeter on the abyss, dividing colored lights and white? Does this debate become the first stressor of the season that purports to bring peace and goodwill? In the Northern hemisphere, at least, this is the time of year when we celebrate the...
Got Juice?
Got Juice? ‘Tis the season for mulled wine, hot chocolate, a splash of fragrant wassail. But my thoughts turned to Florida’s renowned, homegrown orange juice. My mum was a little girl living on a small farm during World War ll. She grew up knowing the taste of fresh...
Tea, Chimps, Compassion
Tea, Chimps, Compassion When we visited my mum in the UK last month, we’d barely graced her living room before she said, “Let’s have a cup of tea. “ I suspect younger people in a more diverse British society may not participate as readily in this ritual, yet it...
Iceland
Iceland First, a disclaimer, much as it may seem the case, the Icelandic Tourist Board did not sponsor this blog post! ~~~ Why stray from the sunny and now temperate climes of north Florida to encounter the chill mists and rain of Iceland? Why leave the luxuriant...
Brave For Life
Brave For Life Courage and bravery have been the watchwords this summer as Chris and his sister both successfully went through challenging surgeries. My mind flipped back a few decades to a day when I had taken my small daughter, Katrina, to a pool for swim lessons. ...
Golf
Golf Even a few years ago I could not imagine retiring to Florida to play golf. It seemed like an option for elite bored old white people who have little better to do with their time than sport the gear, spin around in dinky little carts, and frequent the 19th hole!...
