Monthly Archives: January 2011

Al Jazeera: An extraordinary glimpse of a revolution

Posted on January 31, 2011 by

I’ve bookmarked Al Jazeera English on my laptop, and become quite addicted to its live stream of coverage from Egypt.  This is a revolution whose outcome remains uncertain.  It’s potentially the fall of the Berlin Wall. Only this time, the … Continue reading →

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Honoring America’s guns

Posted on January 28, 2011 by

It makes me swell with pride to see how much this country has grown since the Tucson rampage earlier this month that left 6 dead and  Rep. Gabrielle Giffords badly wounded. Why Tuesday night, at the State of the Union … Continue reading →

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In the land of the dragons

Posted on January 27, 2011 by

LEXINGTON, Mass. — Devon drew a lei-lei on her easel, yellow with pink tail and a hint of scales. In case you’re not up to speed on lei-leis either, Devon tells me it is a dragon, and a mean one … Continue reading →

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Will the next storm obliterate my street sign?

Posted on January 26, 2011 by

LEXINGTON, Mass. — My house sits on a street named Tower Road.  But the only tower in sight these days is a mound of snow piled so high against the street sign stanchion  that it’s within a foot of obscuring … Continue reading →

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The signs of New Zealand: From the poetic to the profane

Posted on January 22, 2011 by
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Images of New Zealand

Posted on January 19, 2011 by

A few years ago, on a five-month sabbatical in one of our favorite places in the world, Provence, France, Kathy and I snapped about 750 photos.  In the last 20 days, on the South Island of New Zealand, we’ve taken … Continue reading →

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Letters from New Zealand: 10 tips for planning the best trip

Posted on January 18, 2011 by

METHVEN, N.Z. – Mike Johnstone has penetrating blue eyes, a face like leather and a head full of numbers. He can tell you that he and his son work 1,800 acres of the rich pastureland in the shadow of Mt. … Continue reading →

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Letters from New Zealand: Finding the right rhythm

Posted on January 11, 2011 by

HOKITIKA, N.Z. – This morning we set out to do a bit of fossicking – beachcombing to you. We walked for more than an hour on the reddish-gray sand, strewn with driftwood, along the Tasman Sea, passing but three walkers, … Continue reading →

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Letters from New Zealand: Into the (wild) west

Posted on January 10, 2011 by

Set between sky-propping peaks … and the vast emptiness of the western seas are forests and lakes, rivers and seashores as beautiful, as mysterious, as rich in the elemental spirit as any left on earth. – New Zealand poet Peter … Continue reading →

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Letters from New Zealand: Odds & Ends

Posted on January 9, 2011 by

FOX GLACIER, N, Z. – If Montana is Big Sky Country, then New Zealand is Big Land Country. No one here would invent an ad campaign like McDonald’s “Super Size Me.”  The entire country is supersized.  Waterfalls cascade hundreds of … Continue reading →

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