Category Archives: Small joys

Minor events with big import

To Andalusia..

A slightly revised version of a dispatch originally posted in summer, 2011. Madrid, Barrio of Trafalgar, May 2011 It was Mahmoud Darwish, by his own personal and poetic admission a lover of Andalusia, who said about love—that love is either … Continue reading

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Rough beauty…

Apples are ordinary; strawberries and figs are explicit; pears are restrained, even hesitant.  Watermelons, cantaloupes, and honeydew possess the self-consciousness of the corpulent.  But the peach is in a class by itself. On an August afternoon, a peach or two … Continue reading

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Awesome Plitvice, Croatia

“Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, and use nothing but time.” These are the directives posted by UNESCO at the entrance to the trails and waterfalls that make up the Plitvice Lake Park in northern Croatia. The Park … Continue reading

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In Split, Croatia

~~My friend and colleague A.S. wrote today from Yerevan: “We all live for great food, great stories (to be encountered during our journeys anywhere), and great conversations,” all of which converge when we travel. The story of the day for … Continue reading

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A Volga in Yerevan…

The weather is changing in Yerevan; winter is almost here. The evening, especially, are on the cold side, often rainy, the streets wet under the light drizzle. It’s true what everyone says about such Yerevan evenings, when you leave a … Continue reading

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Boston skies…

~~Nothing matches the wild, dark beauty of the sky after the rains have stopped.  It was such an evening again this day in Boston.  The pouring rain of the past 24 hours subsided into a drizzle that stretched languidly into … Continue reading

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Amman rooftops…

~~Our afternoon in Old Amman begins on Rainbow Street, with falafel, at Al-Quds Falafel.  I am told that this hole-in-the-wall with a very amicable falafel maker is the oldest in Amman. His offering is delicious, unpretentious and not heavy on … Continue reading

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In the Jordan Valley…

After a summer break of some two months, Passages Home is back! During these months, I traveled to Jordan and to Palestine.  Access to wifi was slow, border crossings were frustrating, and the general mood of the people was wistful … Continue reading

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Snow: The long, white sleep of Massachusetts…

~~For the past two weeks or so, my colleague and friend Rose Cummings, keen photographer of natural calamities which befall our New England landscape, has been posting images of the storms that have been pounding Massachusetts.  They are terrific photographs, … Continue reading

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Le Grand Continental in Boston

~~The weather was perfect this afternoon for the final performance of Le Grand Continental, a celebration of movement, community and public space.  Created by the Montreal-based company Sylvain Émard Danse, Le Grand Continental is an idea that transcends locales, dance … Continue reading

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