Morning Clouds and the Old Oak Tree This morning, the sky was adorned with billowing clouds that danced gracefully across the horizon. Their fluffy white forms stretched as far as…
Key West Eccentrics Key West, Florida, is an eccentrics paradise. Known for its fierce independence Key West, known as the "Conch Republic", once symbolically seceded from the US. This island…
The Orange Robes of Laos Every morning at dawn, heads shaved and barefooted, the monks and novices pour out of the thirty-some Buddhist Temples to begin their Alms Walk through…
Revision of an earlier post The Mekong River delta covers a large portion of southwestern Vietnam from the Cambodian border to the South China Sea. Daily life revolves around the Mekong and many villages are…
What do you say about Florence, Italy? It's a conundrum. The birthplace of the Renaissance, the cultural center of Europe. Cathedrals and museums are world-class. And that's Florence's problem. It's…
Havana's Malecon is much more than a broad esplanade that separates the city from the Gulf of Mexico. More than merely a seawall, it is the place many Habaneros spend…
For the 80% of Indians who are Hindu, the River Ganges is considered sacred, her water holy. In the ancient city of Varanasi, the ghats that form the river's edge teem with pilgrims and devotees who come for a ritual dip in the Ganges in this holiest of cities. The scene is spiritual and, at the same time festive. The streets and ghats are chaotic. The sounds and smells overwhelm the senses. Yet, in spite of the masses of people, there are moments of solitude, aloneness.
For most of us, it is difficult to watch a person being used as a beast of burden pulling another person and their belongings. It seems inhumane, all the more…
We experienced our first ever polo match yesterday, and I have to admit, I enjoyed it more than I expected. Not only that, but my vocabulary grew a bit as…
Three train trestles cross the Mississippi River heading west into Arkansas. There is awe in seeing man's ingenuity cross nature's wonder. Railroad tracks always spur the imagination. Thoughts of wanderlust or…