At the Seder, Rituals Familiar to All Except Me
On Monday night I celebrated passover with my partner and 11 other jews and gentiles. I wasn’t sure that I was up for it, never being a big fan of religion in any form, yet after it was concluded and the fancy china was all put away, I was happy […]
Sea Shepard’s Triumph: Japan Gives Up Whaling
Several years ago, my friend adventure writer Peter Heller wrote a book about chasing down Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean. He spent time on the Sea Shepard’s vessel and ended up writing a book about it. I thought a lot about what those Japanese fishermen must have felt as […]
Charlie Hunter and a Front Row Table: Sweet Saturday Night of Music
Last night’s musical entertainment was a first-rate duo, to go along with our first-rate seats, right next to the stage at the Iron Horse. Charlie Hunter was there with drummer Eric Kalb, and between the two they filled the hall with a huge band’s worth of energy, rhythm and excitement. […]
In Search of Ramps Somewhere in Franklin County
It was a blustery day but sunny. It was a good day to go for a walk. As we strolled through one of the projects on the Jail-side of Greenfield, we headed downhill to a bike trail that lead to the Green River Recreation area by the Green River. Wild […]
Pulled Over in Turners Falls, Cory the Cop Tries for DWI # 102
“Take your hands out of your pockets! Stand back up there, on the curb sir!” It was a nightmare scene but one in which thankfully, I wasn’t going to regret for years and years. I felt last night great empathy for black men in America, all of whom would be […]
Two Women Travel to China in 1986 to Find It’s Not About Them
I’ve been enjoying a book that some might call “chick trip lit. ” What I like about Susan Jane Gilman’s Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven is how cleverly she describes her traveling companion, Claire, when they are facing duress in 1986 communist China. The pair have known each […]
A Map Tells the Tale of a Heartland that’s Emptying Out
The map is what caught my eye. It was the familar shape of the United States, but down the middle were red checks, next to pink ones, and on the far edges, light green and dark green checks. It showed population decreases and increases for every county in the country, […]
How Full Is Your Jar?
Here is a parable I found on the web from a site called “Oceancityfools.com” Is Your Jar Full? When things in your life seem almost to much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar……and the beer. A Professor stood before his philosophy […]