Blog

We just visited old friends in Scotland. We’ve known Frank since 1974. He is 79 now and has had a stroke. He and his wife Frances are both psychologists like Jim and I. 

One afternoon Frances and I walked along the Firth of Forth below the Ochils Hills. Cloud and light patterned the green pastures dotted with white sheep, the bronzed barley fields, and the mud flats of the tidal river. The light reminded me of the paintings of old masters. It was European light, not at all like the flat white light of Nebraska. 

As we watched the light on the water, I said to Frances, “Who needs diamonds when we can have all this sparkle for free?”

We turned and walked along an ancient rock fence. Rosehips, hawthorn berries and blackberries gave the green and blue landscape red accents. Who can devise a better color scheme than Mother Nature?

As we approached our path’s end, a cool wind rustled the leaves in the hickory and hawthorn. Jim and I were going home tomorrow. In spite of the splendor of the day, I could feel autumn in the air. 

I haven’t written about Trump’s zero tolerance policies and the locking up of families on our southern border. It’s been too painful to contemplate, let alone articulate. As a friend to newcomers for many decades, I know people like the people who are now being treated so inhumanely. I’ve shared meals with them, played with the children, and taught them to drive or apply for jobs. They are not criminals to me, but rather beloved ...
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Sara and I just sent our draft of the new content in the update of Reviving Ophelia off to our agent and other readers. We eagerly await their feedback. In July, we will be together and finish the manuscript. It’s been inspirational and fun to work on a project so important to us both.  Meanwhile, a thrush entertains me with his repertoire of songs, no two alike. Honestly, I think he is a showoff. High in our ...
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Today I went to the Sheldon Museum of Art to see two photography shows on Cuba. One was Roberto Salas: Pictures from the Revolution and the other was Michael Eastman’s Havana. Salas was a trusted friend of Fidel’s and photographed him in the mountains during the revolution, at the United Nations in 1960, and as an old man, still in his soldier's uniform. Castro is pictured smoking with his friend Che, waving to the people of Harlem ...
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