Random observations after a week of traveling in Turkey. One of the things I heard from some people who I told I was visiting this country was fear. To date, I can’t see why, since this country gets 34 million tourists a year and is very well set up for […]
Turkey’s newest and largest ski area at Mount Erciyes outside of Kayseri. With a vertical drop just below 5000 feet, it’s almost as big as Snowmass in Aspen. And there are no trees anywhere. We met with the managers of the new slope, which has been under construction for five […]
I was pleased, tired and somewhat stunned when I checked my iPhone and saw that we had walked 8 miles, 18,107 steps, as we walked to all of the top attractions in the sprawling city of Istanbul from 8:30 until 4 pm. We toured the Topkapi Palace, home of the […]
On Tuesday night, I’ll fly out of JFK all the way to Istanbul, Turkey, where I will join a group of travel writers for a press tour that will include the big city and the resort area of Kayseri. This is a large city, in fact, one of the fastest […]
Another Collider is on its way, and that’s a good thing for anyone who loves dancing to highly energetic music from Africa, as two great bands are coming to Northampton’s Union Station on Friday night. BCUC , from South Africa, plays fast-paced Soweto stylings and what can be described as “afrobeat+afropunk+afropsychedelic […]
I have kept a box of letters up in a drawer in my office closet for decades. The last time I put a personal letter in that box was when I got a nice note from a writer last year. Pretty much nobody has written personal letters, on stationery, in […]
It’s time for my post-party wrap up and look back. I am very, very happy with how the Christmas Cocktails party worked out for everyone. I sweat and anguish over party details and so often I think that there isn’t enough food, or not enough booze. The crowd was just […]
It’s a weirdly warm day, balmy and 51 degrees. It’s hardly the type of weather that makes you feel in the Christmas spirit, though it’s still barrelling down at us and will be upon us next Tuesday. I am excited that after so many years we are having a cocktail […]
I’m breathing in a sigh of relief…I can just feel how much I am saving by switching supermarkets to Aldis! For the past seven years, I’ve been forced to shop at the most expensive store in the world–Whole Foods. And Trader Joe’s was the second store, but both are not […]
I’m listening to Vince Guaraldi play his signature piano music that goes with the Charlie Brown television specials….old familiar songs played simply on piano with a bass and drum. Nice and spare, and each song languishes just long enough to feel supple and supine at once. We’re planning a Christmas […]
Thanksgiving a day of traditions This year was different than any year I can recall back to 2006. That’s because we made Thanksgiving dinner and hosted a few family members here with Rachael and her kids. I had ceded control of the cooking feasting holiday for so many years I […]
Snow is coming. These days forecasts have gotten so good that when they say 100 percent, yep, we WILL get snow. So it’s now the week before Thanksgiving, and the radio says we’ll see 4-6 inches, starting around six pm. My snowblower is securely stowed down at Bill’s farm, wrapped […]