THE FAILED EXPERIMENT OF ARMANA: Today we went to visit Amarna. The city built by Pharaoh Akhenaten as a “New Beginning” because he wanted a temple, a palace and an entire city of his followers to worship at his feet as he took the Egyptians many different gods away (Hathor, Isis, Anubis, Horace etc…) and…
THOUGHTS: It’s probably time that I address my long and winding relationship with my dear friend Janis Susan May Patterson, a prolific and accomplished writer of over 85 published books, both novels and non-fiction. She is a captivating story-teller and hilarious character. Whether it’s a tale of being “temporarily kidnapped” by the PLO or the…
Frankly, there are simply no adjectives powerful enough to communicate what it’s like to stand at the feet of the Great Sphinx overlooking the Pyramids of Giza. It’s sort of like showing someone a photo of the Grand Canyon. Nothing I say here can possibly do it justice, but I will do my best. THE SPHINX:…
My Thoughts: Egypt is hot y’all. And when someone tells you “Yes, but it’s a dry heat so it’s not so bad,” feel free to punch them in the head for me. Egyptians say that July and August are the hottest and by September things ease up, but when it’s over 100 degrees in the…
Here are some of my thoughts and happenings from the first few “settling in” days in Cairo. The people here, almost without exception, are extraordinarily welcoming and kind. It’s something we in the United States are so unused to that it takes a while to acclimate to the gentleness and warmth of this people. At…
What do I say about this period in our lives? How can I go about communicating anything when I don’t even know what I think? I know I’m afraid. I know I’m angry that we were deceived for so long…losing precious time to lay the foundation for a plan that might keep so many more…
It’s my son’s birthday. Ash is 6 years old today. I’m his dad…I should be downstairs watching him open presents, but I’m stuck. Blind anger slithers around in my heart like a snake…devouring me a bite at a time. And I can’t seem to forgive him…even though he did nothing wrong. Today is the day…
I took a Creative Writing course at Oxford University this summer and loved it so much that I decided to take the Advanced Writing course this fall. It started this week. I will be writing quite a bit, but probably have no time to write anything for my website here, so I thought I would…
Random thoughts and Details of Umbria… Our Italian adventure continues 90 minutes southeast of Florence where we headed to experience a part of Italy we had never seen—Umbria—and even more importantly, to meet up with dear friends who have a home there. …
Random thoughts and Details of Florence… First Impressions: We got into Florence around 2pm. First stop was the hotel where they had upgraded us to a suite. (VERY good start to the vacation.) Then I found out they have memory foam mattresses and pillows which MADE the trip for me. (Best sleep I’ve had in a…
AGraceful World 