It’s been a long time since I’ve had a rant. After an experience yesterday with a woman on the street, in tears because of how she was treated by this ‘city on a hill’ I wrote this. It may sound harsh but I mean every word of it! Grow Up Boston! Every day I walk … Continue reading Grow Up Boston!
The sky is clear blue and the weather is perfect. We can hear cheers from onlookers as we walk toward our spot – the spot where we cheer on marathon runners (whether they like it or not). Memories of a year ago are imprinted on everyone’s minds, branded in their hearts. We were returning from … Continue reading #BostonStrong – Marathon 2014
Rules for Using Boston’s Transit System by one who knows. Welcome to our fair city! There are a couple of things you need to know should you decide to utilize our ‘world-class‘ transit system. 1. Always sit in the handicapped space. Otherwise it’s just going to sit there empty and who really cares if someone … Continue reading Rules for Using Boston’s Transit System
In our family the Hallmark picture postcard of a family out in the open air, bundled up with hats and mittens dragging the freshly cut pine Christmas tree across newly fallen snow is a picture that exists in an alternate universe. We live in a city and although we could go to the wilds and … Continue reading Boston Christmas Trees – A Family Tradition
There’s nothing quite like a Monday morning. Determined to press forward with a good attitude, despite limited sleep and still longing for the comfort that is my pillow, I decide I will conquer the Monday morning blues. And then, I step off the subway and I am greeted by none other than the high heels and designer … Continue reading Perfecting the Bostonian Stink Eye
“Be honest with me…Did you just ask me to come with you to Seattle because no one else could?” The words took me by surprise. They were from Mariuca, a capable woman and excellent trainer. “NO!” I said emphatically. The truth was, there were any number of people who could have been asked that … Continue reading Bucharest to Boston: Little Immigrant Girl
A female cardinal heads toward our bird feeder, interrupting my thoughts as I stare out the window. She is not the dazzling, deep red of her mate, instead her beauty is more subtle – a beak that the most beautiful lipstick could scarcely imitate, a warm red hue at the edges of her wings, but … Continue reading On Cardinals and Bread Making
We walked along the ocean on Saturday morning. The sun had not yet broken through the clouds and it was grey and misty. The waves were high, crashing and covering the rocks, receding quickly as another one crashed. I love the ocean. I love it in any weather. I love it for its beauty, its … Continue reading Crashing Waves; Crashing Idols
Every year before our Paschal celebration I write a reflection. I usually write it after a busy day of services and preparation, a quiet moment before heading to the church for the midnight liturgy. This year, like the world around us, has been completely different. Last year we traveled eight thousand miles and spent an … Continue reading The Oxygen of Faith – Pre-Paschal Reflections
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with … Continue reading A Life Overseas – Grief and Gethsemane
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in the land of deep darkness, a light has dawned. The Prophet Isaiah Snow is falling outside my window. In the abstract and theoretical, it is beautiful. The flakes are big – the stuff of fluffy snow, easy to shovel, brilliant for … Continue reading Longing for Isaiah’s Light
“A Syrian painter recently told me that we all have a map in our bodies, composed of the places we have lived, that we are constantly in the process of redrawing. A street from our childhood might be traversed by a train car in which we once fell in love. A garden from a year … Continue reading A Life Overseas – Living Borrowed Lives
Two years ago today my father died. There are times in life where you remember exactly where you are at a pivotal moment. I was at work, chatting with my dear friend and colleague, Suzana. My dad had been declining and we knew the end of his life was drawing closer. Still, no matter how … Continue reading A Slice of Life in Charlestown – Volume 2: Death, Debts Forgiven, and Fitting Rooms
Around eleven o’clock every morning, Barzan would look through the door of my office and say “Come! Let’s have cappuccino!” I would look up at him and respond enthusiastically “Yes!” Five minutes later I would find myself seated at a chair by his desk, stirring a cup of instant cappuccino made in Turkey and readily … Continue reading Cappuccino with Barzan: Friendship and Betrayal in Kurdistan
It’s a rainy fall day here in Boston. The bells at the church across the street just chimed five times, telling me it’s almost evening. I woke up restless and sad, a soul in chaos. The gloom outside found its way inside and I struggled to find a rhythm. The news has not helped. As … Continue reading When Your Soul is in Chaos, Chop Vegetables!
A lot has happened since I posted the beautiful piece from my daughter about falling in love with your neighborhood. We moved. Those two words are loaded with weeks of uncertainty, days of planning, and hours of conversation. We took all our earthly belongings out of a seven by ten foot storage unit and began … Continue reading Lost in the Land of Plenty
On Sunday, we are moving to a new neighborhood. We found a little house to rent in a historic area of Boston. It is painted a deep red and has a postage-stamp yard where we anticipate hanging up white lights and sitting on patio chairs during late summer nights in September. This house has come … Continue reading Fall in Love with Your Neighborhood
