traditionshome

Traditions are like Friends

2010-11-21T16:05:00.000-08:00

Traditions are like friends. The old ones give you a good warm feeling inside. And yet, there is nothing more rewarding than making a new one. What traditions keep your friendships close year after year, and at the same time create more friends?

For Traditions Home, it is the annual Holiday Open House. Each year, we decorate the store like crazy for the Holidays, we bring in hundreds of seasonal gifts, provide wrapping for gifts, serve food and wine on occasion, and, most importantly, spend a little time acquainting ourselves with both old and new customers.

It is quite obvious that making friends from customers is advantageous. Our customers, along with our employees, are the life line that makes Traditions the store that it is. Yet, we derive more than purchases from our customers, and sales from our staff. They also give us a healthy dose of reality, honest feedback on our, at times, skewed version of what is important to us. A trusted friend provides that golden nugget of advice, and the strength and encouragement to see the world as others do.

Here is to friends, old and new. Here is to the Traditions that keep us together.

Terror attacks planned in Paris and London

2010-09-29T07:19:00.000-07:00

The New York Daily News reports that the US foiled planned terror attacks in Paris and London.
NY Daily News ,2010-09-29.

France 24, the news is not a top story. France 24 reports of information received from a foreign intelligence agency (US) of an imminent threat. A hoax bomb threat to the Eiffel Tower is received.

The Sunday London Times reports:

Scotland Yard has warned businesses in London
to expect a Mumbai-style attack on the capital.

In a briefing in the City of London 12 days ago, a senior detective from SO15,
the Metropolitan police counter-terrorism command, said: “Mumbai is coming to London.”

Al Jazeera likewise reports of a foiled attack.

Western spy agencies have foiled an advanced plan linked to al-Qaeda to attack Britain, France and Germany, according to British and US media.
Citing intelligence sources, Britain's Sky News said on Tuesday that Pakistan-based fighters were plotting simultaneous operations in London and major French and German cities, but the attacks were not imminent.
The broadcaster said that spy agencies had been tracking the suspected plotters who were planning attacks similar to commando-style raids seen during the co-ordinated atttacks of November 2008 in India's financial capital, Mumbai.

Canada's The Globe and Mail reports the news with calm and dispassion.

Intelligence officials have intercepted a credible terror plot against Britain and France, raising security fears at the Eiffel Tower on Tuesday, but failing to raise the overall threat level in either country.

Stickley Traditional Collection

2010-03-25T06:51:00.000-07:00

Stickley the Traditional Collection - classic grace and stately elegance. Future family heirlooms that reflect your tastes and your style. In rich mahogany and beautiful cherry, the Stickley Traditional Collection creates an inviting, comfortable setting for the style of your life.

This is the final week of our 40% off custom orders of Stickley Furniture. Come in today and save.

2010-03-03T05:56:00.000-08:00

Come in to Traditions Home this Thursday for refreshments, prizes, and great savings - only in Wichita.

new york day 2

2010-02-03T14:11:00.000-08:00

The Gift Show at the Javitts Center and Piers was, on the whole, a disappointment. There is very little furniture and the gifts and accessories were for the most part geared to smaller stores than ours or to large chains selling smaller items.

The highlights of the day were visits to Stickley Furniture, ABC Furniture, MacKenzie Childs, and Henri Bendel. Pictures to follow.

hotel elysee - manhattan, new york

2010-02-03T05:47:00.000-08:00

Hotel Elysee

Built in the 1920's, the Hotel Elysée in New York City is named for one of the finest French Restaurants of that era. Today Hotel Elysée has been home to movie stars, artists, writers and intellectuals. George Clooney stayed here recently and shot scenes of the movie Michael Clayton across the street. The ground floor of the hotel is home to the equally well-known restaurat, The Monkey Bar where celebrity spotting is always in vogue. Hotel Elysée is located on East 54th Street between Park and Madison Avenues and is an oasis of luxury, elegance and calm in bustling Midtown Manhattan; the vibrant heart of New York City.

Visit the Hotel Elysee and learn more.

the history of St. Lawrence Church

2009-09-01T05:58:00.000-07:00

St. Lawrence's Church in Lechlade was completed by 1476, but excavations reveal an earlier foundation and burials dating back to Saxon times. There is mention of the parish of Lechlade in the Domesday Book of 1086. The first mention of the dedication church to St. Lawrence was noted in 1255. The church was one of the few in England with the privelege of sanctuary.

More.

still waiting, after all these years

2009-08-22T17:01:00.000-07:00

Thirty two years and counting - that is the length of time since the launch of Vayager II and with it earth's message in a bottle to the extraterrestrial aliens that if you are out there, say something. This was Carl Sagan's idea. he thought that while we are at it, sending space junk out beyond the solar system, we ought to see if someone is out there listening. More on the message.

We are still waiting.

When you think about it, the lack of response from the aliens out there is quite staggering. The earth after all, is over 4 billion years old and the universe itself, is 14 plus billion years old. Enough, already. Forget time travel, parallel universes, and worm holes. If someone, intelligent enough as we are, has been working on this problem of contacting intelligent life out there, and has failed for 10 billion years more or less, then the likelihood of finding intelligent life anywhere is slim.

Still, we keep trying.

I am reminded of Sisyphus, who was doomed to roll a heavy rock up a hill for eternity, only to have it roll back during the night so that he could start all over again. It is an existential nightmare, but it is our nightmare, and so we embrace it.

The Night the Lancaster Bomber Crashed

2009-08-12T04:56:00.000-07:00

In World War II, Graffigny-Chemin saw little action due to its relative isolation. However, on the night of July 22, 1944 an English Royal Air Force Lancaster Bomber crashed into the hills behind the village. Thirteen airmen died immediately, two were seriously wounded, and one, Canadian Paul Bell, was slightly wounded. Local villagers managed to secret Airman Bell to the French underground, and he was spirited out of France through Switzerland and then to England. However, because of the severity of the injuries of the other airmen, they were released to the German authorities, but then never heard from again.

Villagers had removed from the crashed plane its radio transmitter, weapons, ammunition, and explosives. When the German authorities learned of this, they took hostages from the village and threatened to burn it. Living in the village was the French widow of a German Colonel, who had died in 1913. She interceded with the authorities and obtained the release of the hostages and cancellation of the order to burn the village.

The Airmen who died in the plane crash are buried in the village cemetery of Graffigny-Chemin.

the bridge to nowhere

2009-08-09T07:56:00.000-07:00

Ever since I can remember, I have thought about escaping from my mundane life into a world of excitement and adventure.

It is the wish, I imagine, of most small town boys boys and girls to want to strike out and find something new and different. Main Street, Winesburg Ohio, Our Town, books that I read in high school, revealed to me that this need was epidemic. The longing to leave is epidemic.

This last Saturday,
I dropped my son Will off in Emporia where he was trying out for an Olympic High School Development is expressed in many ways.Program. With the whole day to kill while I waited for Will, I brought my kayak along, hoping to find a river or stream to navigate.

Hartford, Kansas is north of Emporia and just off I35 on the way to Kansas City. The town survives on farming, and by survives I mean that like so many other small Kansas towns, it is hanging in there. Opportunities for high school students are limited. If you don't farm, you pretty much don't do anything.

At the north end of the town is a bridge. It looks like the "bridge to nowhere". It leads into the Flint Hills Park, but that is one way trip down gravel roads that end at the John Redmond Reservoir. If you really want to leave Hartford, you need to go back the other way, hop on I35 and head north to Kansas City.

The bridge is now the haunt of high school kids who wanting to express themselves, paint the bridge and not the town. From its railings these kids can look out and wonder where the river of life will lead them. Right now the bridge serves as a way to express loves, memories, feelings, and hopes. In a greater sense it expresses hope that out there somewhere there is more.

Julie & Julia

2009-08-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

This might keep me going for awhile - this being the Julie & Julia movie about a failed writer who finds her calling and purpose in life by blogging all the recipes of Julia Child's 1961 cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Julie is Julie Powell whose blog the Julie/Julia Project, a race to complete 524 recipes in 365 days, becomes a blog sensation, followed by a book and a movie. (Watch the trailer.) Julia of course is Julia Child, cook, author, and TV sensation.

If your looking for the original blog, there is little that is left other than a tribute posted on Julia's death in 2004. And, yes Julie has created a new blog to record her experiences as she deals with fame and fortune, but apparently lighting does not strike twice with Julie; her blog has none of the appeal of the original.

A no-holds-barred movie review.

Having just come back from Paris this summer, I loved the scenes in the movie. Shakespeare and Company, the bookstore, is still there on the Left Bank. Yes, it is the bookstore that Hemingway frequented when he had no cash and was struggling as a writer. The subway scene was also real, the only change was finding a metro train that was vintage. Sadly, the French open-air markets where one went to buy fresh produce are gone. But, one can still find patisseries, boulangeries, and the other small specialty shops where Parisians love to shop.

Read the N.Y. Times story as Julie goes into the homestretch on her blog.

Up the river

2009-08-07T08:17:00.000-07:00

Read about the poet Shelley's trip up the river Thames with his wife Mary Shelley.

"The weeds above Lechlade became so thick that ...tugging and pulling [they] could not move the boat an inch..." They returned to Lechlade and stayed at the inn.

In Lechlade Shelley's thoughts turned to writing and the self-reflection that writing creates:

"A mirror would be held up to all men in which they might behold their own recollections, and in dim perspective - their shadowy hopes and fears, all that they dare not, or daring and desiring, they could not expose to the open eyes of day."

The writer's passage from sensation to reflection is sometimes so difficult and dizzying that one "dares not look behind".

A Summer Evening Churchyard, Lechlade, Gloucestershire

2009-08-07T07:58:00.000-07:00

A Summer Evening Churchyard, Lechlade, Gloucestershire by Shelley

"THE wind has swept from the wide atmosphere
Each vapour that obscured the sunset's ray,
And pallid Evening twines its beaming hair
In duskier braids around the languid eyes of Day:

Silence and Twilight, unbeloved of men,
Creep hand in hand from yon obscurest glen.

...

The dead are sleeping in their sepulchres:
And, mouldering as they sleep, a thrilling sound,
Half sense half thought, among the darkness stirs,
Breathed from their wormy beds all living things around,
And, mingling with the still night and mute sky,
Its awful hush is felt inaudibly.

Thus solemnized and softened, death is mild
And terrorless as this serenest night.
Here could I hope, like some enquiring child
Sporting on graves, that death did hide from human sight
Sweet secrets, or beside its breathless sleep
That loveliest dreams perpetual watch did keep."

the enclosures of england

2009-08-07T06:46:00.000-07:00

What follows is a summary of the economic history of Langford Downs (Langford Downs, a farm north of Leclade, should not be confused with the nearby town of Langford.):

The enclosure of common lands occurred throughout English history. Motivation was the improvement and profitable use of common land. Enclosure in and around Lechlade was carried out under a private Act of 1808 promoted by the rectors of the several churches holding land and other freemen. "Among leading farmers, ... the rector’s lessee received 450a., Richard Wells and William Young of Langford Downs farm 380 a., mostly for
freehold land..."

History of Langford Downs

Langford Downs was newly built and one of the larger enclosures at 380 acres.

Whether as a landowner or as a tenant, my family possessed the farm for a period of time in the mid to late 1800's. This statement is based only on the picture of the house of Langford Downs passed on to my by my father Arthur Harvey Davis, Jr.. Wouldn't it be nice to confirm this from the land records?

By 1910 Langford Downs farm was enlarged to 424 acres, while by comparison Kelmscott estate, the summer home of William Morris, was 99 acres. (The image of hay is from Kelmscott.)

The late 19th and early 20th centuries was a difficult for Langford's farmers as imports of cheap foodstuffs undercut the British farmer. Dairy herd were introduced to many farms to increase profit. By the beginning of World War II, "Langford Downs farm was 72 per cent arable and had a flock of over 400 sheep. The chief crops were still wheat, barley, and oats, together with root crops. All the farms had dairy herds, most raised pigs and poultry, but only Langford Downs and Rectory farms kept flocks totaling nearly 1,000 sheep."

History of Langford Downs, page 19.

Anecdotally, when I was in England in 1979, I spoke with a Mr. Davis who had owned the chemist shop in Lechlade. (The picture of Langford Downs house that I have spoken of earlier was developed at his shop, but presumably from an earlier date.) He was, to my knowledge the last remaining Davis still living in the area. He was then in his seventies and childless. He claimed that Langford Downs was a chicken farm. My wife Robin was then and now much amused.

On another occasion in 2009 I again visited Lechlade and spoke with the historian of the church in Lechlade. As a young man growing up he remembered Mr. Davis (first name forgotten) and described him as a bit of a character, so that one has to question the characterization of chicken farmer.

my great grandmother

2009-08-05T16:14:00.000-07:00

I met my great grandmother for the first time today. Her name is Julie Laura Emma Chevallier. She was born in Graffigny-Chemin, France on March 16, 1862. Her parents were Paul Constant Chevallier and Anne Emma Aichier.

Julie married Charles Guillame Christian Meine at a date unknown. They had two children, my grandmother, Marguerite Tony Lilly Meine and her older sister, Marie Leunn Paula Meine. both birthdates unknown.

"Julie Laura Emma" - such English names for a proper French girl. The name "Emma" I can guess is the subject of Jane Austin's 1815 novel of the same name.

"Emma Woodhouse is a young, beautiful, witty, and privileged woman in Regency England. She lives on an estate in Surrey in the village of Highbury with her father, a hypochondriac who is excessively concerned for the health and safety of his loved ones." Emma

Julie Chevallier would have been like the Emma of Jane Austin's novel. My great grandmother was the daughter of a comparatively wealthy landholder in Graffigny; not that Graffigny was itself large or wealthy by any means, but her family was wealthy enough to own a second home in Switzerland and to properly educate the daughter so that she spoke several European languages.

The names "Julie" and "Laura" I will have to leave for later.

feelin' it

2009-08-04T14:07:00.000-07:00

Stop right there!

If you are not fifty, or at least forty, go no further.

Now ask yourself if, when you get up in the morning, are you feelin' it?

Or, maybe, after you have been sittin' in a chair for a long time or driving across country and you stop to get out and gas up, are you feelin' it?

For a hoot, listen to Leonard Cohen's Tower of Song on youTube.

How to dress fashionably

2009-08-04T12:23:00.001-07:00

Pictures can often be dated by both the subject's fashion and stance. Compare the photograph of my grandmother Marguerite Chevalier Meine with John Singer Sergeant's 1897 painting of a fashionable couple.

"Women's dress in the 1890's continued to be built in a sturdy, heavy, upholstered style, but the silhouette changed to that of an hour glass. Female bodies were corseted to a small waist, and then padded in the buttocks, hips, bosom and sleeves to exaggerate the apparent wasp-waisted effect."

Tara McGuiness, The History of Fashion and Dress

James Madison Pearson

2009-08-04T09:25:00.000-07:00

My family history relates that my grandfather James Madison Pearson saw action in World War I with the 2rd Infantry Division and with the 3nd Infantry Division.

In the spring of 1918, with close to 50 divisions freed by Russia's withdrawal from the war, the German Army launched successive attacks on the Western Front, hoping to defeat the Allies before United States forces could be deployed.

The 2nd Infantry Division was organized in October 1917 and headquartered at Bourmont, Haute Marne, France. In June of 1918, the 2nd Infantry Division stopped a German advance at Belleau Wood. At Belleau Woods, the 2nd Infantry Division was three times awarded the French Croix de Guerre for gallantry under fire. The 2nd Infantry Division was next committed to a German advance on Paris and the battle at Chateau-Thierry.

The 3rd Infantry Division was posted to a position protecting Paris on the banks of the Marne River. In July of 1918, the 7th Machine Gun Battalion of the 3rd Division rushed to Chateau-Thierry amid retreating French troops and held back the Germans. While other units retreated, the 3rd Infantry Division remained rock solid and earned its reputation as the "Rock of the Marne".

My grandfather received numerous medals, including the Silver Star, Croix de Guerre, and Purple Heart during his service with the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Divisions. He was wounded in action and treated at a hospital in Graffigny-Chemin, near Bourmont. It was here that he met and wed my grandmother, Marguerite Chevalier (Chevallier) Meine.

Madame de Graffigny

2009-08-04T07:09:00.000-07:00

'You will jump with joy at the date of this letter, and you will say, 'Ah! mon Dieu! she is finally at Cirey.'
- letter Mme de Graffigny to a young friend, on her arrival at Cirey, December 1738

Madame de Graffigny was a middle-aged woman who lived at Luneville, the provincial court of Stanislas, the last Duke of Lorraine. She was a real-life Madame Bovary who long dreamed of a more elegant way of life, divorced her husband and, penniless, managed to get herself invited to Cirey where she joined Voltaire and Emile du Chatelet.

She is remembered for her letters recounting her stay collected in Besterman's edition of Voltaire's correspondence and paraphrases in Frank Hamel's, An Eighteenth-Century Marquise: A Study of Emilie du Châtelet and Her Times (London, 1910).

Read David Bodanis's review.

Read The Life of Voltaire by Stephen G. Tallentyre.

Madame de Graffigny wrote Letters from a Peruvian Woman, a satirical description of the conditions of French women seen through the eyes of an outsider Zilia, an Incan princess - captured, rescued, and then educated in French culture, who talks about language, literature, philosophy, education, and child rearing.

pieces of a puzzle

2009-08-03T11:52:00.000-07:00

At the end of the First World War, my grandmother Marguerite Chevallier Meine left her village of Graffigny-Chemin, France to marry my grandfather James Madison Pearson.

Here is a picture of Maruerite with her older sister.

My grandfather was serving with the 2nd Infantry Division under General Black Jack Pershing. My grandfather received the Purple Heart, Silver Star, and Legion of Merit among his many decorations. He was wounded in battle and treated at the hospital in Graffigny where he and my grandmother most likely met.

Here is a photograph of the house in Graffigny where my grandmother was raised.

the biggest pumpkin in Twyford

2009-08-02T11:21:00.001-07:00

From small beginnings, great things happen.

And so, on a warm summer July day in Twyford, England, this mere pip of a pumpkin has taken hold. In time, weather permitting, this pip will blossom into the biggest pumpkin in all of Twyford, England.

The owner is no other than Adam Workman, winner of last year's prestigious "Biggest Pumpkin in Twyford" award. Oh yes, the beer is the secret. Everything looks bigger and better after you have had a pint or two.

inspired minds want to know

2009-08-02T10:02:00.000-07:00

"True ease in writing comes from art, not chance,
As those move easiest who have learn'd to dance.
'Tis not enough no harshness gives offence,
The sound must seem an echo to the sense. "
Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism: Part 2, 362-365

I'll bet you didn't know that Benjamin Franklin lived in Twyford, England. It was here in 1771 that he began work on his autobiography. The village is on the river Itchen, a short three miles from historic Winchester, the capital of King Alfred's England.

I'll bet you didn't know that Alexander Pope went to school here, but so do Ollie and Charlie Workman. Charlie studies Mandarin Chinese and loves to draw. Ollie loves to act in school plays.

This is the house in Twyford where at the age of 65, Franklin began work on his autobiography. Adam Workman and family also lived in this house. More.

the flint hills

2009-08-02T07:54:00.001-07:00

The Flint Hills of Kansas are a band of hills in eastern Kansas stretching from just north of Wichita to south of Emporia. They can be viewed along Interstate 35 or more scenically from Highway 77.

What is flint? Mineralogical, flint is simply black chert. Chert is a sedimentary rock composed of silicon. The silicon is formed from diatoms - microscopic, single-celled algae that lived during the Cretaceous era when Kansas was an inland sea.

Chert.

Technically, flint is a finer grain chert and capable of producing a spark when hit against steel. This is not the case with the chert or flint or the Flint Hills. The rocky chert of the Flint Hills renders farming impossible except along the river beds, but allows for cattle ranching.

"The reality of the flint verses chert debate is that in most cases it is something like 'splitting hairs', there really is very little difference, chemically speaking. Artifact collectors tend to call materials that have a more waxy luster 'flints' and those which have less luster to no luster 'cherts'. The difference between them lyes in their purity relative to pure quartz and their matrix particle size. The smaller the particle size and the purer the material, the more likely we collectors would be to call the material flint. To a purist, we would be wrong. A generalist would say 'close enough'."

The difference.

they paved paradise

2009-07-29T16:20:00.001-07:00

Eventually, everything changes.

For fifteen years I have traveled to Berkley Springs and then, for exercise and peace, found my way through the woods to the top of the mountain that looks down on the Shenandoah River. The forest is full of deer. Tall and stately oak trees are mixed in with the lower climbing sassafras and red bud. Ferns dot the undergrowth and lichen covers the exposed rocks.

Imagine my disappointment - I pull up to the trail head and find a big yellow No Trespassing sign warning me that if I should set foot on this pristine woodland path, I "would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."

Joni Mitchell said it all years ago:

"They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know
What you got til its lost...."

Oh yes, I still went on the trail, up to the top of the mountain and yes, the Shenandoah is still there.

Barbara Fritchee

2009-07-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

The story goes that at the age of 95, Barbara Fritchee flew the American flag from the attic of her house in Frederick, Maryland.

Alone among all the citizens of Frederick, she was demonstrating her opposition to Confederate General Stonewall Jackson's troops, who were passing through in Lee's Maryland campaign of 1864. The rebel troops shot at the flag and broke the staff....

Quick, as it fell, from the broken staff
Dame Barbara snatched the silken scarf.

She leaned far out on the window-sill,
And shook it forth with a royal will.

'Shoot, if you must, this old gray head,
But spare your country's flag,' she said.
A shade of sadness, a blush of shame,
Over the face of the leader came;

The nobler nature within him stirred
To life at that woman's deed and word;

'Who touches a hair of yon gray head
Dies like a dog! March on! he said...

The poem by John Whitleaf Whittier.

traditions furniture - tables and chairs

2009-07-29T07:47:00.001-07:00

This rectangular extension table of solid white oak is fit for a feast.

After you select the right table, you can change its style by changing its edge or legs. The edges add character without adding cost. Most legs are interchangeable without changing a table's price.

The Extra Large Turned and French Regency legs are thicker and carry some additional cost. Our Turned and Tapered legs are also available in counter height. This option will raise the height of a table from 30" to 36".

Click here to see how.

hardwood furniture

2009-07-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

About half of Gat Creek Furniture in is built in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. A collection of more than 25 individual workshops – many owned by Amish and Mennonite families – hand builds the remainder in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Each piece of furniture is made by hand. The artisan signs and dates his or her work. Gat Creek exclusively uses domestic hardwoods - cherry, oak, and walnut, all wood coming from sustainably managed forests.

Gat Creek

2009-07-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

The 2009 Annual Homecoming Show for Gat Creek Furniture is being held this week.

Gat Creek features solid handmade furniture from native oak and cherry, with many of the pieces made by Amish and Mennonite craftsmen from Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Some of my favorite things include the solid cherry rectangle table with two leaves that seats eight. This table is available in oak or cherry and with a variety of stain finishes and custom edges and legs.

Gat Creek also hand builds a mission style table and chairs, here shown in a clear unstained oak.

kings of leon

2009-07-28T06:54:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest joys of having children is that when they are old enough to apprecitate good music they turn you on to new groups.

My son Will likes the group Kings of Leon and I have to agree. See them on Youtube.

Other favorite group, The Killers. Like the lyrics, check them out.

breaking away

2009-07-28T05:57:00.000-07:00

If we are going to talk about racial profiling - white police officer Crowley arrests black professor Gates in his own home - let's also talk about class - working class cop and snobby Harvard professor.

Remember the movie "Breaking Away"? I know it has very little to do with racial profiling. But, then it has everything to do with class consciousness:

"Dave, nineteen, has just graduated high school, with his 3 friends, The comical Cyril, the warm hearted but short-tempered Moocher, and the athletic, spiteful but good-hearted Mike. Now, Dave enjoys racing bikes and hopes to race the Italians one day, and even takes up the Italian culture, much to his friends and parents annoyance. While meanwhile, the 4 friends try to break away from their townie, Indiana reputation while fighting with nearby college snobs."

Breaking Away

Remember how Dave wants to impress the university coed? How he has to deal with the legacy of being a stone cutter's son, and making dad proud? The point of the movie is that class shouldn't matter.

Before you say that this is a stretch, at least think about your point of view - Judge Sotomayor has a point, remarking in her Senate confirmation hearings, on how her experiences as poor and Hispanic will give her a unique insight into hearing cases on the Supreme Court. We are all biased; it is the legacy of our racial, social, and economic backgrounds.

For police officer Crowley, no man is above the law, neither Harvard professor nor thief, and both should comply with the lawful orders of an officer to produce identification and answer questions. For Professor Gate, his home is his castle; he should be accorded the respect both the humblest and mightiest citizens have a right to regardless of race or class.

As for President Obama, who now finds himself in the middle of a national debate on race, I suggest that when he gets the two parties together for a beer, his idea, he also screens for them the movie "Breaking Away" so that they can all think about social arrogance as much as racial arrogance. By the way, what kind of beer do they drink in Boston?

is it still going on?

2009-07-28T05:21:00.000-07:00

Early afternoon on Ware Street in Cambridge, Mass., a few blocks from Harvard University. Professor Gates and his airport driver, a large black man, shoulder open Gates' jammed front door. A concerned neighbor calls 911.

Officer Crowley arrives to find the caller standing on the sidewalk in front of the home. Crowley recalls "she observed what appeared to be two black men with backpacks on the porch ... her suspicions were aroused when she observed one of the men wedging his shoulder into the door." The caller, now identified as Lucia Whalen, a white woman, does not recall using a racial description of the men, other than to say one might have been Hispanic.

Gates, 58 and gray-haired, was dressed in a blazer and walking with a cane. His driver was wearing a black suit jacket and matching pants. After they forced open the door, the driver carried Gates' luggage into the house, then drove off.

Crowley confirms that Gates is the owner of the residence, but still arrests him for disorderly conduct. What was said between the two and what conduct Gates used is uncertain.

President Obama later comments that Officer Crowley "acted stupidly" in arresting Professor Gates. The black community collectively says, "Right on!" The white community reacts in disbelief saying "Don't mess with a police officer in the execution of his duties." And, we are still talking a week later about what happened and who's right.

Can't we just recognize that both sides acted a little stupidly and move on. Both the racial aspect of the situation and the fact that we are dealing with class - a Harvard professor versus a Boston police officer - means that perception is in the eye of "victim", the black professor coming home from a long trip or the police officer just trying to do his job and getting no thanks for it.

looking good

2009-07-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

Randy is a pro and he has only been at it for a third time. Okay, he was a little anal about scratching the bottom of his new kayak, the "Swifty" painted a stoplight red and yellow.

Andy, big Bwana as he is known along the river, glides along in his green for go kayak.

cool dudes

2009-07-26T17:42:00.000-07:00

After awhile on the lake kayaking, 15 minutes, more or less, you're a pro. You're confident in your abilities and ready to tackle the rapids that challenge the best kayakers.

it's good to be back

2009-07-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

It is good to be back in the USA.

By that I mean there is cheap entertainment in kayaking on Satchel Creek leading into Lake El Dorado, Kansas. I can't give too much information, otherwise, it would be crowded with everyone trying to find a getaway to our own secret place.

For starters, Randy and Andy slide like pros into their colorful kayaks.

At first the river is wide and deep.

And then, it gets a little narrower.

And narrower still. Along the way we see strange trees and root formations, pretty skies, but no lions, tigers or bears.

bellagio when it rains

2009-07-25T19:07:00.000-07:00

A picture may be worth a thousand word, but it will never replace being there.

The family had just driven from Tuscany to Bellagio, on Lake Como and checked into our hotel, The Pergola. The weather began to change immediately.The wind picked up, the temperature dropped, and clouds gathered between the mountains.

What had been serene and peaceful, became foreboding.The sky which had been half sun half gray was now full-blown gray and wet. The boats began to rock to and fro. The wind whistled through the masts. The chains anchoring the boats clanged in furious rhythm to the wind.

The rain which had until now held off, began to beat against the window of the hotel. As the rain began to fall, the visibility was reduced to nothing. White caps appeared on the lake. It is the quickness of the change that is so surprising. In a moment the beauty is replaced with the fury of nature.

electric cars

2009-07-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

Along the Champs d'Elycees in Paris, France, Toyota has a showroom for its newest and sportiest cars. Here it is, the 2004 fuel cell concept Toyota Triathalon Race Car.

"The MTRC was conceived to compete in three different environments: an off-road course, a smooth and high-grip racetrack and a narrow city street circuit, as if in a 'triathlon.'"

Top Speed.

Buds and mates

2009-07-23T16:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a photo of Will and his mates at the Manchester United Soccer Camp from the summer of 2009.

Will is on the left on the bottom row. Along with Will is Ignacio, next to Will, Pedro, the second to the far right , bottom row, and Jordan, in the middle on the top row.

For more information on the residential courses in Manchester, click here.

guard dog

2009-07-23T15:35:00.000-07:00

Arles was a key city in Roman times. A Roman arena still stands guard along with this dog.

Arles was a depressed town that Vincent Van Gogh came to in the 1880's. Painters can still find inspiration in the colors of the town's window shutters and doors, as well as the cafe at Arles which was the subject of one of his most famous paintings. (You can compare the real cafe with the artist's version by clicking above.)

Today it's a conservative place, the stores shut up shop when the tourist buses go home at six, but the town comes to life for the Saturday market, which brings in farmers from thecountryside, and during festivals of tauromachie between Easter and All Saints, when the town's frenzy for bulls rivals that of Spain.

Travel Info.

sports bars

2009-07-23T05:46:00.001-07:00

In Manchester the football club is Manchester United.

The drink is a pint of your favorite ale; the food, well, it is heavy and unappetizing. But, the fans come for the football and the ale anyway. Hey, maybe, it is an upset stomach from that spicy food that causes the English football fans to become so unruly.

"Manu," as the team is more familiarly known, is Will's favorite team. In England a great way to start a conversation is to wear a football jersey. You will get a response either way. Loyalties are intense and local.

cars

2009-07-23T05:15:00.000-07:00

Space and the price of gas are the main factors in choosing a European car.

My brother-in-law just bought a Fiat that gets over 70 miles to the gallon. And it flies down the road at speeds in excess of 80 mph. I am beginning to get excited about Fiat's foray into the American market.

Occasionally you will see a Chrysler Jeep, Land Rover, Nissan Pathfinder and even a mini-van, but these sitings are rare. There is simply no where to park them in most European cities. And then consider that many of the cities and roads were originally built over a thousand years ago when the main means of transportation was a donkey and cart if one was not on foot.

Gasoline sells for a little more than one euro a liter. It sounds cheap until you figure that a liter is roughly equal to a quart and a euro is almost a dollar and a half. If you do the math, gasoline sells for almost six dollars a gallon. Thank goodness the tanks are small.

The good news for Americans travelling by car in Europe. You will feel like a Grand Prix driver in your small rental car tooling down the road with someone riding your rear bumper flashing his or her lights wanting to pass on a hair-pin turn.

Top ten car not in the US.

ty mawr country park

2009-07-20T06:33:00.000-07:00

The Ty Mawr Country Park, Wrexham, in northern Wales is lovely collection of pasture, river, and woodland set in the Welsh countryside. It is a oasis of peace and quiet in an otherwise hectic trip. For a quick panoramic view, click here.

At one end is the impressive Cefn Viaduct built by Thomas Brassey in 1848. Ty Mawr Country Park is a favorite location for families, due to the petting zoo including retired Cavy the pony who has been put out to pasture along with donkeys. At the opposite end is the Pontcysllte Aqueduct, 1000 feet long and 125 feet high, taking the Llangollen Canal over the beautiful River Dee valley. (I did not take it, but you can actually ride the aqueduct in a small boat.)

The park doesn't show up on a list of things to do in Wales. But, it was still a nice break from a day of driving and an opportunity to stretch my legs with a short run. Besides, at this point in my trip I am extremely tired of the tourists, me included, and I want to see how the Welsh enjoy life.

Funny thing, it is not so different from parks anywhere. Mothers with strollers gather together to share news; old couples hand in hand, walk the grounds and talk; young groups of boys and girls wander down to the river, take their shoes off, and wiggle their toes in the cold water. Then, there I am, jogging along as best I can, trying to take it all in.

they still speak welsh

2009-07-20T06:02:00.000-07:00

In parts of Wales, they still speak Welsh, a Celtic language. Welsh is spoken daily by roughly 20% of the Welsh population, slightly more than a half a million individuals in mainly the north and west of the country.English is also spoken as a secondary language.

The Welsh Language Act 1993 gives Welsh equal status with English in the public sector in Wales. The BBC has a daily radio program in Welsh, as well as its own website, BBC - Cymru. Public libraries encourage the reading of Welsh language books and periodicals.

It has to be difficult keeping this ancient language alive. English is spoken in almost all daily commercial transactions, and the influx of English tourists make English a necessary conversational tool. Still, the language manages to hold its own against the incursion of English.

back in the usa

2009-07-19T06:10:00.000-07:00

Back in the USA, so glad, I just want to keep singing the Beatles tune but change USSR to USA.

what is wealth?

2009-07-19T05:36:00.000-07:00

Overheard in the Charlton House pub in Ludow, England, "China is the richest country in the world." One of the gentleman turned to me as I sat nearby, and I said, "No, not yet, America is still on top."

Once England was the wealthiest countries on earth. At other times other countries have laid claim to that title.

For most of the twentieth century and for the present, the United States holds that title. Whether we continue to hold that position depends on the health of our economy; the ability of our education system to create new engineers, managers, and information technologists; and, finally, a government that recognizes the challenges of the future.

The measures of wealth have changed in the last hundred years. Wealth today is less a function of agriculture, natural resources, and manufacture, and more a function of the gathering of information and the ability to manage it. Service industries that involve the computer and information technology, but also including insurance, banking, and business management are increasingly the dominant industries of today. These industries produce nothing that can be eaten or worn, they do not power any vehicles or plants, yet they produce wealth. Take Google for example. Yet, it is a company valued at 220 billion dollars and growing because of its ability to gather information and put it in a usable format.

The internet, like the printing press, is revolutionizing the world; the ability to dominate this service industry will determine economic success or failure in the twenty-first century. One only has to observe the international concern with both Microsoft and Google to see this.

final thoughts

2009-07-17T12:09:00.000-07:00

We are staying at the Marriott near the Manchester Airport.

The nearest town is Hale. Lots of ManU footballers live here. Had dinner at a Thai restaurant in Hale, the Tamarind Duck for me, Pad Thai for Will. Both were delicious. The Thai food here is crispier than the States.

Football camp round-up was at the Old Trafford. The kids loved it, the parents enjoyed the ceremony.

It is back to the real world.

We're going home

2009-07-17T12:02:00.000-07:00

...
We're going home

Two of us sending postcards
writing letters on my wall
You and me burning matches
lifting latches on our way back home
We're on our way back home
We're on our way home
We're going home

You and I have memories
longer than the road
that stretches out ahead

Two of us wearing raincoats
standing solo in the sun
You and me chasing paper
getting nowhere on our way back home
We're on our way back home
We're on our way home
We're going home

You and I have memories
longer that that road
that stretches out ahead

Two of us wearing raincoats
standing solo in the sun
You and me chasing paper
getting nowhere on our way back home
We're on our way back home
We're on our way home
We're going home
We're going home

Beatles, Two of us.

self expression

2009-07-16T09:03:00.000-07:00

Observed on a tree stump in a park in Wales.

all who wander are not lost

2009-07-16T08:52:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you feel like a sign post - going in all directions and in a language that no one understands. My advice is pick a direction.

My daughter Hannah gave me a t-shirt which reads "All who wander are not lost." I like the shirt and I follow the advice when I can. Then again as Shakespeare observed in King Lear, a little vision can make life simpler and less tragic.

This last week has been my random wandering though England and Wales. I have been searching for my roots, knowing that my forebearers came from the Cotswolds, Wales and the Midwest of England. I may not have found anything new about them, but at least I enjoyed the journey.

deal or no deal

2009-07-16T08:32:00.000-07:00

Sometimes choosing a hotel is like "Deal or no deal." You can take the hotel that you have come across while you are driving along, or, and this is where Howie Mandel jumps in with the spiel on whether you have got guts, you drive on, hoping that the next town and hotel are just as good, if not better.

I started out in Ludlow where I spent a great night at the Charlton Hotel. This hotel had it all, great food, great view, and a modern bed and shower in an historic building. With that as a benchmark, I drove north through Wales, stopping in several perfectly lovely towns, but always wanting more. By noon, I was so close to the northern coast, I decided to go for it. Pull out the map and there is Rhyl. It looks like a big enough town . I get there and it is a crowded mess of shoppers, cars, and trucks. Now, the banker is smiling and thinks I should have taken the deal he offered earlier. I drive on, and it is not getting any better. It looks like I am going home with a $1 suitcase.

Then, there is Llandudno, a town on the map with the three squiggles that signify a pretty view of the North Atlantic. I am there, I am tired, it is raining, and my options for bigger payoffs are getting smaller and smaller.

The hotel is the Oak Alyn - not beautiful, but clean and close to the seaside. And, at 30 pounds a night with a full English breakfast, it is the bargain of the trip. Pay in cash because at this price the hotel owner has to keep it simple.It is a deal.

chump steak

2009-07-15T05:35:00.000-07:00

Some of you have questioned my reference to "chump" as a cut of meat. I did question the waiter, saying that the word has another meaning in America. Apparently, this meaning is not part of the British lexiocon.

They also serve faggots over here. And that has a different meaning as well.

What they prefer serving up are pies that contain various meats and vegetables. Steak and kidney pie is one of the favorites.

It's all available at the local butcher's shop on main street.

ice bytes

2009-07-15T05:29:00.001-07:00

Change comes slowly to small towns. Ludbury for instance, still has its main street with all the small local markets such as the meat shop, the winery, and everything else needed for the town's inhabitants.

Sticking out like a sore thumb is the Ice Bytes wi-fi shop, proving that even the small towns and villages of England want to be a part of the global exchange of information.My advice to the locals is enjoy what you have while it is still here.Gloucester seemed soulless with its large "Superstores," a Walmart knock-off and Sainsbury's everything for sale store.

For a history of the town during the civil wars, click here.

letters from abroad

2009-07-15T03:12:00.000-07:00

This trip to England was an attempt to discover my past family history.

I have learned that the past is gone, and what remains can be found in archives, museums, antique shops, and on post cards. Life is for the living, it is a phrase I often use. To me it means living life to its fullest, enjoying each day as it comes, and expecting more and better things in the future.

I am sad that I could not have learned more about my family. Still, seeing where they lived, and sometimes, how they lived was interesting. Our families did not leave their homes to come to America because life was great, but because life poor, hard, or there was war or persecution. Our forefathers and mothers came to America hoping for something better, and that is the legacy that we must carry on. A better America, a better world.

70 million

2009-07-15T02:53:00.000-07:00

The population of Great Britain, now 60 million, is expected to reach 70 million by the year 2028. Seventy percent of the increase will be due to immigration. Texas, by comparison, is roughly the same size as Great Britain with only 24 million people. At its present rate of growth, Texas' population will double within 20 years.

Statistics mislead. Projected trends level off over time. Still, with land scarce, the question is where to put everyone. In England, the answer is in smaller houses and more apartments. This, however, is changing the life style of the English from one of country villages to large urban cities. How many more Manchesters or Birminghams do the English want on their beautiful landscape?

It is such a sensitive question that only the bravest or most fool-hardy politician would want to answer - when is enough enough?

breakfast at the Edward Hotel in Gloucester

2009-07-15T01:23:00.000-07:00

I am not a breakfast person - by that I mean a cup of coffee and a piece of toast will do.

But in England at the Edward Hotel in Gloucester, breakfast is a "Full English Breakfast." And by "full" it is meant: handmade local sausage, the size of a hot dog; bacon, not the thin strips we are used to, but thick Canadian bacon; grilled tomato; mushrooms and baked beans; an egg, usually sunny side up, but you can ask for anything you want; and, of course, two thick slices of English toast with butter and marmalade.

I say I am not a breakfast person. Who has the time to eat all that and wash it down with a cup of coffee or two? I doubt that the average Londoner on his way to the train or the tube, to make his or her way to work, can afford to leisurely sit and sup.

But, then it struck me that this is keeping alive a bit of British tradition. This tradition belongs to the upper class. Who else other than the lord or lady of the manor can take the time to eat that much food?

Is it a great tradition? Does it remind us of something that once was? Does it give us something to aspire to? Or, does it simply make us think that a life style dependent on the hard work of others is not something to be emulated?

England strikes me a class conscious society. This view of the entitled and unentitled is however changing as the British society recognizes the principle of equality under the law. An example is the news item I heard on the radio yesterday. The government ministry in charge of tax exemption ruled that private (in Britain they are called "public") schools in order to keep their tax exempt status cannot teach only the children of the well-to-do. They must now serve a "public interest" . This means admitting free of charge some individual students of lesser means. "Public" means all of the public and not just the rich and well off.

The current government in Britain is ruled by the Labour Party. The Conservative Party is in opposition. Listening to the dialogue between the two parties is a lot like listening to a discussion of the haves and have nots. The Labour Party wants to provide services for everyone. The Conservative Party recognizes that there is a cost to services by the government, and responsible citizens will contribute to the wealth of the country. It is not unlike the discussion in America between Democratic and Republican principles.

The tendency in political debate is to take an extreme position in opposition to the other party. Thus, I heard on the radio a discussion in parliament by the Labour Party to tax bank bonuses at the 90% rate. Didn't I hear the Democrats in America saying the same thing. Compromise in politics, as in life, is always the better course. Punitive measures that penalize either the rich or the poor do not serve the interests of society -either the rich or the poor.

The point is that a full English breakfast is a fine English tradition. So too is the public (private) school system in England. But, as a society, it is important that we keep in mind the less well off and strive to improve their lives as well.

Dick Whittington

2009-07-15T00:25:00.000-07:00

I had dinner at Dick Whittington's Pub last night. Dick Whittington and his cat are semi-folk characters first written about in 1605. The story centers on Dick, a poor boy, and his cat who go off on various adventures. The cat makes Dick rich, but does not seem to get much in return from Dick for his good deeds.

Richard Whittington was a real person, the son of a knight and himself a rich merchant in London. He served three terms as Lord mayor of London: 1397-99, 1406-07, and 1419-1420. On his death in 1423, he left his estate to charitable causes.

Dinner at the restaurant was appropriately fish and chips. I am not a fried fish fan, but this was excellent. The fish was fried whole, 14 inches in length and, amazingly filleted. There were mounds of thick English style French fries and peas on the side. The sauce was a spicy mayonaisse.

gloucester

2009-07-14T13:19:00.000-07:00

It is spelled "GLOUCESTER," but it is pronounced, "GLOSTER."

British spelling is certainly confusing for most Americans, and perhaps it works the other way too. One explanation for the difference in spelling and pronounciation is that England, when it standardized its spelling in the 1800's, opted for the Norman or Anglo-French spellings.

Learn more.

That might explain the differences in spelling, but what about pronounciation? I am not sure, but I have a guess. Walking around listening to English as it is spoken in different parts of the country, I notice a wide variation in pronounciation. (Shades of My Fair Lady and Henry Higgins.) I also notice a tendency to contract words when pronouncing them. Even Shakespeare did this. (Look at the quote of the Earl of Gloucester in a previous blog.)

Here is a concrete example. The word "bedlam" was originally the word "Bethlahem." "Bedlam" is how it was pronounced. "Bethlahem" hospital or "bedlam" (as it was pronounced) was the name of a lunatic asylum where, as you might 'ave guessed, things were a little crazy.

the news

2009-07-14T10:02:00.000-07:00

The sad and tragic news in Great Britain is the loss of six of their soldiers in combat in Afganistan. It is the worst troop loss for Britain in 18 years. The loss was the result of a roadside bomb.

As in America the reaction is mixed. Questions arise as to the wisdom of fighting unknown insurgents in a foreign country. There are also the recriminations against a government which does not fully support its troops with the necessary equipment. But, there is also genuine patriotic support for soldiers who are fighting to make for a better world - "If not us then who?"

At some point in this conflict the American and British governments will recognize that winning this war is an obligation of the Afgan people. American and British military power can not defeat an insurgency that has its roots in the Afgan people.

gloucester

2009-07-14T09:16:00.000-07:00

In Shakespeare's tragedy, King Lear, both King Lear and the Earl of Gloucester do not see the reality of their family relationships. Both are blind to the world around them - Lear can not see the devotion of his beloved daughter Cordelia or the shallowness of his other daughters, while Gloucester is blinded by his son Edmond's treachery. This failure to see reality leads to Lear's psychological blindness, his insanity, and Gloucester's physical blindness, his trusting tendencies.

At the end, both Lear and Gloucester recognize the truth, demonstrating the need to have a clear vision in life.

Gloucester:

I' th' last night's storm I such a fellow saw,
Which made me think a man a worm.
My son came then into my mind, and yet my mind
Was then scarce friends with him. I have heard more since.

As flies to wanton boys are we to th' gods,
They kill us for their sport.

chasing ghosts

2009-07-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

Trying to find evidence of your ancestors who lived hundreds of years ago, is a bit like chasing ghosts - ghosts in that their spirits have long since left this earth and the tangible proof of their being is more ephemeral than real.

My father, Arthur Harvey Davis was born in Austin, Texas in 1920. His father, of the same name, was born, to my knowledge, on a farm called Langford Downs, just two miles north of Lechlade. The farm is now gone, replaced by a newer house.

There is a picture of this house which I now have, developed by the local chemist in Lechlade who also had the last name of Davis. He died years ago, marrying late in life and without children. Davis, a local historian explained, is a Welch name. There are no other Davises in the town with the exception of one family which is a recent transplant from Wales.

All that I possess connecting me to the farm of Langford Downs and the village of Lechlade is a photograph. It a typical photograph of the period between 1860 and 1890. The date is based on the quality of the photograph, the pose of the two men, and the fact that my great grandfather would have been in his thirties most likely in the 1880's.

The local church in Lechlade dates from the 1200's. Like many churches it was built on an earlier foundation, and there have been over the years additions and changes. When I walked in the church today, a historian, David Ramsely, was acting as custodian. It was he who explained to me the Welch derivation of the name "Davis" (I knew.), the chemist who had the name Davis (I knew that too.), and the fact that Langfor Downs and Lechlade are in two different counties, Oxfordshire and Gloustershire (I didn't know that.).

Langford Downs is not on the map. The post office directed me to the location two miles north of Lechlade and near the smaller village of Filken. The area is a working farm with wheat as the primary product. A larger stone house stands on what was probably the site of the original house. Am ancient and gnarled tree marks the spot, unlike the surrounding area. There are two other houses in the same area, and I suppose that either of them might have been a replacement for the house my great grandfather owned.

The property records, if discoverable, are either in Gloustershire or Oxford. It all depends on the flip of a coin as to where the records were sent.

within living memory

2009-07-13T01:20:00.000-07:00

Most of us do not record our family histories. We know very little of the momentous events in our parents lives, less about our grandparents, and thereafter, all is lost in a cloud of haze.

When we are young, we are too embarrassed, or interested in other things, to ask questions of parents and grandparents. Sadly, when we are older and wiser it is too late; the images and memories we are left with are few and distorted by childhood inexperience. The nature of children to leave home and go far, far away, the twists and turns of fame and fortune within our families, and the untimeliness of death and birth creates huge gaps in what is known about our family trees.

Before the computer and internet, sources for family histories in America are few. Family bibles, when kept, recorded significant dates in a family's life, but there was only one copy and when there were many children, them majority suffered from a lack of recorded history. Then, there were perhaps church records recording births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths. For the more industrious, there are property records or military records which can reveal new details.

In my family, I was fortunate enough to personally know three of my grandparents, my father's father, for whom I am named, died before the birth of any of his grandchildren. He was an immigrant from England, the town of Lechlade, by way of Canada. Or was it his father who emigrated from Lechlade and settled in Canada, from where his son then went to Texas and, later, Arizona. Sadly, now that I am older and interested, there is no one to answer my questions. My father's father married Francis, who I met several times, but know little of other than that she was born in Arkansas.

More is known of my mother's father, James Madison Pearson, whose ancestors origonally came from the border country of England and Wales, and crossed to America before the War of Independence. In World War I, my grandfather fought with the 2nd American Infantry Division near the Vosages Mountains in France. Wounded he was cared for in the small village of Graffigny-Chemin, where he met and married a French woman, my grandmother, Marguerite Chevalier Meine.

Of the hundreds and thousands of others, I know nothing.

stratford

2009-07-12T23:56:00.000-07:00

In Stratford-upon-Avon, I am staying at the Holiday Inn, located just across the canal that connects to the river Avon. There is a short walk to Shakespeare's house in the city center. The city has a great website with all the information you will need on what to do and where to stay.

The canals have colorful barges lining the banks. The river is lined with grassy parks. Swans glide gracefully by. Beautiful hanging flowers line most of the street lamps.

Shakespeare's house is well-preserved; a learning center connects with the house. Most of the other buildings built in Stratford are of a much later date. There is a drive to Mary Arden's house.

fathers and sons

2009-07-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

I dropped off my son at football camp today;

He was just fifteen - half boy, not yet a man.

As we said goodbye, neither of us had much to say.

"Good luck, have fun, be all that you can."

"Thanks," he said, and turned away.

Long, long ago, I too once was young.

My father too, his job done, said good-bye.

I too with nary a glance back, to see the old man standing where,

I find myself.

Why do fathers do the things they do?

itchen' for a jog

2009-07-11T14:26:00.000-07:00

After sitting on my rear for a day, I am itchen' for a jog.

Heading to the right out of Waterhouse Close and toward Winchester, I set out on a jog. For a half mile I put up with the cars speeding by at break-neck speed before I made my way on to the Itchen Path to Winchester. The weather was drizzling rain, but the wet felt cool and refreshing.

The path trails off into the valley that connects Twyford and Winchester and follows the course of the Itchen River.

Quickly the traffic noise is left behind and peace and quiet descends as you follow the course of the river towards Winchester.

Picture by Peter Jordan.

The river runs clear and staight. Trees hundreds of years old stand guard on both sides of the path as you make your way to Winchester. When there are no trees, there are raspberry thorns to deal with and stinging nettles. A mile or so later, you come to St.Catherine's Hill, which overlooks the city and once upon a time was a fort, as well as, the site where medieval Winchester buried its plague victims. Continuing on the trees open up into fields and then again to a tree lined path, before you come to the playing fields of Winchester College. Here ancient sweet gum trees whose girth is greater than the span of two arm lengths stand in silent grandeur.

The path takes you by houses lining the river and then you are in Winchester. In a moment you are at the ancient cathedral of Winchester where King Alfred the Great ruled England over a thousand years ago.

The return trip follows the opposite side of the river and a brief venture into a nature reserve. The final leg of the run ends at the Twyford church and a view of England's largest and oldest yew tree.

Oh yes, why is it called the Itchen River? My theory is that the name came from the stinging nettle that grows to six feet in height and lines the path in many spots, causing itching whenever it comes in contact with the skin.

dinner at the bugle inn

2009-07-11T13:47:00.000-07:00

The Bugle Restaurant on Park Lane in Twyford, England reopened in March 2008 after an absence of four years. Twyford is three miles south of Winchester.

The restaurant is owned and managed by its chef, Lenny Carr-Roberts. Chef Lenny and his team of locally trained restauranteurs catered for the Twyford Summer Ball Dinner. It was acclaimed as a triumph by the more than 300 residents who attended this charity event.

Thw Bugle has quickly become one of Hampshire's most recognized restaurants - a traditional pub updated with modern decor. The menu combines traditional English foods including lamb, fish cakes, and steak and ale pie, as well as, continental selections, including mussels, and lighter fare such as Caesar salad. Chef Lenny chooses locally sourced food and changes the fare daily; so look forward to a new delight with each visit.

The service is great, the food tasty, and the setting casual and relaxed. Enjoy.

the history of graffigny-chemin

2009-07-11T01:30:00.000-07:00

War touches us all in one way or another.

For the village of Graffigny-Chemin, war was a frequent visitor. Joan of Arc, the patron saint oif France, was from Doremy, a village not too distant. The Thirty Years War, the Franco-Prussian War, World War I and II, all came to its doorsteps, and sometimes to the village itself.

During the First World War, the 2nd American Infantry Division headquartered in Bourmont, a village that commands the valley below and three kilometers from the village of Graffign-Chemin. A hospital in the village treated wounded American soldiers. Here my grandfather, James Madison Pearson was treated for wounds and met my grandmother Margherite Chevalier Meine.

For another history see this site.

The House

2009-07-11T01:05:00.000-07:00

This is the front view of my grandmother's house in Graffigny-Chemin. The house is not visible from the street because of a high wall that surrounds the property.

The house faces the village and the main street leading up to the church. The right side of the house faces the church. Visitors were received by horse and carriage in the front. Then, horse and carriage would then be kept in a separate building in the back, or in other farm buildings up the street adjoining the farmland.

To the left of the house is the garden which is fairly large, taking up perhaps half an acre or more.

The garden consists of flowering beds set off by boxwoods. There are two pergolas, one is overgrown with an ancient tree , the other pergola fallen down and only the base remains. Along the wall separating the garden from the house is a water well which collects runoff from the rain.

For a good history of the village see this site.

what's for dinner

2009-07-10T12:37:00.000-07:00

Rotherham chicken - it's what's for dinner, prepared perfectly by Adam Workman. It is a Jamie Oliver recipe. Adam's twist on this recipe is fresh thyme that is flowering and green beans, both from his private allotment.

Much of the produce comes from Adam's allotment which in a good year can feed a family of four. This evening we are eating new potatoes -biogold, broad beans - witcam mantea, and sweet peas.

Laurie says Adam is wearing a camo apron and nothing else.

Laurie helps.

music

2009-07-10T09:41:00.001-07:00

Sitting here with Adam listening to great music. It is the Friday selection of music that makes you feel good.

How about the Doobie Brothers' "Without Love?" Does it get any better? I have just been informed by Adam that this is an incorrect title. Do you know the answer?...

"Long train running." If you got it right keep going.

Crystal Gale sings "Don't it make my brown eyes blue."

How about Stevie Wonder, "Songs in the key of life?" Hey, did you see Stevie at the Michael Jackson tribute? Come on admit it, I know you watched it, but won't admit it... He could dance and sing.

Dionne Warwick sings "Do you know the way to San Jose." What movie did Burt Bacharach make a cameo appearance in?

Who sings,"Just another day without you."...

John Secada.

A pint of ale or a glass of wine, a little music, that is all you need to make it memorable.

Ollie Workman in Robin Hood

2009-07-10T08:40:00.000-07:00

This Tuesday and Wednesday at the village church in Twyford, England is the new production of Robin Hood, starring Ollie Workman as one of the Merry Men. Showtimes are Tuesday at 2 p.m., and Wednesday at 10:00 a.m..

Ollie will appearing as the only female of the Merry Men and will be leading the Merry Men into Robin's camp. She will be chanting "One, two, three, four, we are Robin's Merry Men."

When asked about the production, Miss Ollie Workmen said, "The production will be good, it will exceed last year's production of Oliver... Mark your calendar for a great performance."

a pint of tea

2009-07-10T07:01:00.000-07:00

What is more traditional in England than a pint of tea in the afternoon?

In this case "tea" is traditional English ale served in pint sized bottles. Brewed in Surrey, this award winning beer advertises itself as Britain's best. The brewery is Hogsback.

home again

2009-07-10T02:42:00.001-07:00

A home is a safe harbor, a port in the storm; it is somewhere that you can go to without question and always feel safe and secure.

Traveling for a month now, I realize the importance of having a home, of having a place to come back to where everything is in its place, where you can kick off your shoes and truly relax. Hotels just don't give that kind of satisfaction.

Thinking about my grandmother's home in Graffigny-Chemin, makes me understand that a home is more than a house. A home is about the people who live there. People give a home meaning and substance. Without the family that lives in the home, any house, my grandmother's house becomes some else's home.

So, that when Pim and Aria, the Dutch couple who showed me my grandmother's home, I felt the interloper, looking at rooms, walls, and furniture that were not my grandmother's. It was an empty feeling. There is no way to reconnect with the past, with my grandparents who have long since past.

There were images that came to mind as I walked the grounds - my grandmother when she was alive in North Carolina had always kept a garden with irises, a grape trellis, and a fig tree; and there in Graffigny was a garden. It had flower beds, a spring, a fig tree, a trellis. These were all things that my grandmother brought with her in her mind when she emigrated to North Carolina. She recreated many of the memories of her French home in her new house.

perfectly loverly

2009-07-10T01:25:00.000-07:00

It is a perfectly lovely English home - Adam and Laurie, Charlie and Ollie Workman's house. After a month on the road staying in hotels, it is nice to be somewhere called home.

Adam's gift with flowers and plants is evident from the picture. In the back of the house, Adam is trying seven different varieties of grape vines to see which does the best. In a few years, who knows, he hopefully will be producing his own vintage.

near miss

2009-07-10T01:07:00.000-07:00

We arrived in LeHavre with plenty of time to spare before the 11:00 p.m. departure on the ferry to Portsmouth.

Arriving at the ferry, we looked for somewhere to store our luggage. None was available, but the receptionists said it was quite alright to leave the luggage in the car and park the car at the ferry; Hertz would pick the car up. This seemed to good to be true, but with plenty of time to kill, we walked the waterfront while trying to call Hertz to confirm that we could leave the car at the ferry.

The calls to Hertz went unanswered, so finally common sense suggested driving to the car rental office to confirm that we could leave the car at the ferry. Of course, we couldn't. We had arrived at the Hertz office with only five minutes to spare before the office closed for the day, and had only nearly missed a disasterous situation.

last leg of the journey

2009-07-09T00:25:00.000-07:00

This is the last leg of our continental journey - from Reims through Amiens to LeHavre (3 hours).

There we turn in the car (Hertz, 70 Rue des Briquetiers) and make our way to the DL lines (91, Quai de Southhampton 76600) for the overnight journey by ferry from LeHavre to Prtsmouth. We board at 9:30 p.m., depart at 11:00, and arrive in Portsmouth at 6:15 a.m. where we will take the train to Winchester and meet up with the Workman family.

I hope the crossing goes well, but I have my doubts. The online booking did not work, and the phone call to book the ferry, was overly complicated. But, all we need is a cabin and a bed to make it work well. We shall see.

random thoughts

2009-07-09T00:10:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Reims after a grueling trip though back roads from Graffigny. If you imagine the road system in France as a giant wheel with Paris as the hub and spokes stretching out to the major regions, you will get a bit of an idea of how the traffic system works. So long as you are travelling along one of the spokes, the trip is fast and quick. But, when the trip requires going from one spoke to another, it can get a little tricky. Traffic, trucks, narrow roads, rain, and confusing signs all add to the experience. Still, there can be unexpected surprises, such as our happening on Doremy, the birthplace of Joan of Arc. Then, there are the hundreds and thousands of little villages that never made it into the tour books, but possess their own charm.

Arrived in Reims tired and ready for rest. Will and I are straying at the Hotel Mercore, just off the canal and a quarter mile from the cathedral. The hotel is like a Sheraton and if you like that kind of hotel, then this is the place. One thing to keep in mind is the super highway that runs along the other side of the canal. It makes for a lot of traffic noise.

Dan and Chris -Will and I thought of you while we dined at the Cafe du Palais. It is a kitchy (is that spelled right?) place that has good local food - the Reims ham is popular - and, of course, champagne. I took some pictures and will try and upload them later.

michael jackson

2009-07-07T22:55:00.000-07:00

Michael Jackson adulation is a world-wide phenomenon.

Everyday, the newspapers and magazines picture his face and report the latest. The television at the restaurant where we ate last night played the tribute to Michael at the Staples Center. In the tiniest French village of Graffigny, a kindly Dutch couple, who showed me my grandmother's house, had Michael news on the TV while we spoke. And, while two instances of Michael curiosity do not make for a ground swell of European interest in the King of Pop, it does suggest that the world could not get enough of someone who was immensely talented, but flawed.

If loneliness, self-mutilation, and eventually death from an overdose are the price that one pays for celebrity, then for Michael Jackson the price was too high.

overheard at a restaurant in Colmar

2009-07-07T14:12:00.000-07:00

At a cafe in the square of the Ancienne Douane, my son and I were enjoying a meal that was more German than French. Will ate a chunk of ham with sauerkraut, and I ate a pot of melted cheese, potatoes, and ham. Seated next to us was a German couple in their forties. He was physically imposing and with a tattoo on his arm, she blond and friendly. They spoke German. As I sat there enjoying my dinner, I caught bits and pieces of their conversation.

"My father was SS," he said in German. His words peaked my interest, and so I listened more closely. "He was stationed in France, but I know little of his history." The conversation moved on.

Most of us with fathers who fought in the Second World War know little of their wartime activities. War is a harsh thing and not always suitable for sharing with children. Sometimes, it is better not to know.

my grandmother's house

2009-07-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

My grandmother's house isn't the same - how could it be? She is dead and gone these thirty years, but her memories live on. The house she lived in is now owned by someone strange; Aria and Pim, the present owners, showed me around, but still, it isn't the same.

Time marches on and all we have are the memories. Sometimes, I think it is better to let it be - to remember as we wish to remember, rather than trying to go back and see it as it is now. Graffigny-Chemin is a beautiful little village on the edge of the Vosges Mountains. The pace of life is quiet, the way of living hasn't changed much in hundreds of years - villagers farm and raise what they need. The population for years was declining as the young went to the big cities where there was employment. Only recently have new people come to the village, people escaping the clamor of the big city life and people seeking something simpler.

Once my grandmother's family had pasturage to the south of the village and it was sold. Once there were three gables on the roof, now they are no more. The family had their own chickens and horses, but the garden is overgrown. I think it my grandmother would prefer the past to the present.

to grandmother's house we go

2009-07-07T12:26:00.000-07:00

The distance from Colmar to Graffigny-Chemin, France, where my French grandmother was born and raised, is not far, perhaps 120 miles as the crow flies. But, crows fly straight while the road from Colmar to Graffigny goes north then west. Even when going west through the Vosges Mountains, the road twists and turns - the result is a longer than expected trip.

This is an area that raises mostly hay and cattle.The villages are sparse as is the population - a result not only of the limited agriculture, but also of the two world wars that used this area as a battleground. In the town of Epinal, along the way is an American war cemetery. In the smaller village of Graffigny is a cemetary that contains the remains of British pilots shot down near the town in the Second World War. During the First World War, Graffigny had a small hospital that treated wounded American soldiers, one of them my grandfather, James Madison Pearson.

hotel columbier

2009-07-07T00:30:00.000-07:00

Will and I are staying at the Hotel Columbier in Colmar, France. The hotel is located in the heart of the old town center. There is generally parking in front of the hotel, but arrive early to get a spot.

The hotel has wi-fi, air conditioning, and it is a great location for walking the downtown area. The staff is helpful. The rates sky rocket in the busy tourist season, but we were fortunate and got an apartment for 130 euros.

This is the house across the street from the hotel. In a city which gets the least amount of rainfall in all of France, this means a lot of watering by hand for the many flower pots and boxes.

colmar, france

2009-07-06T07:02:00.000-07:00

On a recommendation of Gary and Barb Scott of Wichita, Kansas, Will and Art are staying in Colmar, France.

The half timbered houses were built in the 14th and 15th centuries. The second stories almost always stretch out over the bottom floor, and with time many of the buildings take on a warped shape.

For more photos, click here.

To see more images, click here.

The Head House, named after the many heads built into its facade, is both a hotel and restaurant.

good byes

2009-07-05T22:43:00.000-07:00

This morning, Will and Art said goodbye to Robin and Hannah. They are going by shuttle from Bellagio to the Milan airport for the trip home. Goodbyes are a part of life. Will and I will miss them greatly.

Ciao in many languages.

it's a small world

2009-07-05T22:30:00.000-07:00

Dena and Craig Robinson stayed in Vernazza, just a stone's throw south along the coast from Monterossa. Their room is right off the main square and if you look closely, you can see Craig's K-State t-shirt hanging in the window over Dena's head.

The walk from Vernazza to Monterossa takes you up the hill over a thousand meters from sea level and then along narrow and sometimes congested trails.

Dena and Craig hiked the route the next day and brought along trail friends from Australia with whom we shared a beer or two. David and his wife are retired ranchers and farmers from Queensland taking a five month vacation in Europe.

hotel pergola

2009-07-05T00:57:00.000-07:00

This is where breakfast is served at the Hotel Pergola in Bellagio, Italy. Our room is directly above the pergola overlooking the lake.

The hotel is run by the mama, and her children, along with their spouses. A restaurant supplements their income from the hotel business.

breakfast at the hotel pergola

2009-07-05T00:37:00.001-07:00

Breakfast is the time of day when weary travelers drag themselves out of bed and gather to share stories of the day before and the day to come.

At the Hotel Pergola, we shared breakfast with Gary Cooper and his wife Michelle (not their real names) and Kevin and Jan. Gary and Michelle live outside Seattle, Washington. I called him Gary because he had that Gary Cooper look - tall, thin, slow movements, and good hair. Gary was, in his words, a motorcycle buff, and so he was off to tour a local motorcycle factory near Como. His wife Michelle, was a junior high school counseler, who greatfully is able to put all her worries about teenage problems on the shelf while she vacations in Europe for the summer.

Kevin and Jan were from Ponca City, Oklahoma (again not their real names). He works as an educational counselor for the military in Germany. He has been doing it for the last 29 years and is set to retire next year and move back to Oklahoma. Jan has only recently come to Germany. She was divorced for 26 years before meeting Kevin again at a high school reunion and deciding to come to Europe and find a job. They are planning to get married in Denmark on an island later this year.

Everybody has a story. The variety of the stories is endless, but the common theme is restless people always looking for the new and different.

the morning after

2009-07-04T22:52:00.000-07:00

Pictures can never words, they just don't give one the sense of sound, smell, and feel.

The morning after the storm on Lake Como the air is calm, the smell of coffee and fresh baked bread floats up to my room were I am still sleeping, and I feel as if life has slowed to slowest possible. Hardly anything is astir, with the exception of the hotel staff who are preparing breakfast and the birds who are already busy finding food.

Pictures are soulless, lacking movement and feeling and life. But, then if a picture told the whole story, I would be sitting back in Wichita, Kansas looking at a postcard rather then here.

the nasty bits

2009-07-04T11:55:00.000-07:00

Anthony Bourdain is chef, raconteur, tv host, and author of the book The Nasty Bits, a wonderful collection of odds and ends about the restaurant business.The nasty bits in the restaurant trade are the left overs, the odd bits that you don't serve your best guest, but sometimes, contain great flavor and taste.

I am tired of hearing that the French are the nasty bits of European culture. They are not the left overs and remnants of the finer cuts of meat. If they are a little aloof and distant from Americans, perhaps it is because we, in turn, are aloof and distant. Try a little culture, speak the language, even if in trying to speak French, one commits cultural linguistic genocide.

I am in Saint Emilion, near Bordeaux, and trying to order mussels, so I ask the pretty young waitress for "moule." She is embarassed and runs to get another pretty young waitress who speaks English, and when I repeat myself saying, "Moule, you know mussels," she smiles and informs me that in French I am asking for "ass."

Try a little kindness. A smile and a little self-deprecating humor goes a long way.

bellagio

2009-07-04T11:28:00.000-07:00

Everyone I met in Italy said that Bellagio was the prettiest place they had ever been to or the one place they had to get to. But I am here, it is raining and when it is raining, it is not so pretty. It is just wet. I have seen wet a lot of times and a lot of places, and it all looks pretty much the same, wet.

Wet is nice if you are a farmer on the western plains of Kansas. I suppose it is nice if you are a duck, even if I don't understand why people say that, and wet is good if youy simply want to sit in your room and read a good book while listening to the steady patter of the rain drops. But, I am on vacation, and Bellagio doesn't look good in the rain, just another soggy rain soaked Kansas town.

we sat in the car all day

2009-07-04T10:59:00.000-07:00

My family and I didn't leave Cinque Terre for Bellagio until one in the afternoon. A morning on the beach and a swim in the water was worth it in order to get a late start on the four hour trip to Lake Como and Bellagio, the Pearl of the Lake.

We arrived at six p.m. and the weather was in a word, spectacular. But, thirty minutes later, the clouds moved in from the north and sun and postcared views have become drenching rains. One can see perhaps a hundred feet. The thunder cracks its peels like a cannon shot. The water spouts from the hotel are shooting the rain out like the other water displays at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Only a tourist would be out on a night like this. I drove all day while my family sat in the car. They had the opportunity to sleep and did so, so t.hat when we got to Bellagio they were ready to do the tourist thing. I tried to warn them, but no one listens to a dad. (Remember Chevy Chase in Family Vacation?)

Off they went lloking for George Clooney, who has a house here, or other similar pearls, while I sit here in the room looking out over the lake enjoying the storm and wondering why no one listens to Dad anymore.

out of order

2009-07-04T10:43:00.000-07:00

My posts are now a bit out of order. Three days in Monterossa, the largest and prettiest town in Cinque Terre, left me disconnected and out of touch with the word. The disconnect was refreshing. All there is to do is enjoy the sea, the people and friends, Craig and Dena Robinson were there, and the food.

Being disconnected is not terribly disconcerting. It reminds you that there was a time, not terribly long ago, that we lived in relative isolation. News did not travel at the speed of light. If a celebrity, such as Michael Jackson, died, it was often days, weeks, or months before you learned of it. Distance separated us, it created other worlds where culture and religion, and the old ways were preserved and maintained. Not so any more.

I love gelato, and I feel that the internet is, in a sense, taking all the flavors and stirring them up into one big and bland mixture. Forget sorting it all out. The tourists, the locals, the internet, the television, cell phones and such have brought us all together for good and bad - good because its nice to be connected in a vast global village and bad because I like strawberry gelato.

last day at the villa

2009-07-01T01:14:00.000-07:00

Last days come all too quickly. It has been a great time getting together and sharing stories and experiences. A day at San Gimignano among the towers, a day in Florence for the ladies and kids shopping and seeing the sights, a day for me at the American military cemetery, and just the time spent around the pool - it has been a memorable experience.

What will each of us remember and take away? For the children, it will be the pool or the gelato. For Robin and Laurie, a chance to be together again with each other. For Adam, perhaps the memory of a Volvo, broken down and abandoned in the town of Picenza. For Art, many things, but mostly the experience of seeing how people from eveywhere live life.

american military cemetary near florence

2009-06-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

The Soldier

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever the home of the free, the land of the brave.

There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom America bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of America's, breathing American air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less: Gives somewhere back the thoughts by America freely given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness,: In hearts at peace, under an American heaven.

Rupert Brooke: my apologizes for changing England to America.

the flowers

2009-06-29T01:37:00.001-07:00

I wish that my flowers grew like they do in Tuscany. But then, Wichita does not get the morning mists off of the Mediterranean or the afternoon showers that cool the hillsides.

the kids

2009-06-29T01:29:00.000-07:00

The kids are having a great time. There are, from left to right, Charlie, Hannah, Ollie, and Will.

We dine together.

We even begin to look like each other.

ships passing

2009-06-29T00:40:00.000-07:00

Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing, only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak to one another, only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Days come and go at the Villa Poggiale, people check in and leave, departing for new destinations and adventures. Their stay is usually brief, a day or two at most. Villa Poggiale has little to keep its weary travelers here for very long, only the solitude of being away from the lights and activity of the city of Florence.

Of those who stayed for awhile, first there was the "office," actually a group of wedding photographers who had gathered at Villa Poggiale to study under Jeff (I forget his last name, but know that he was Australian, and well-known as he was always described to me.) As the office was a self-contained group our speaking was limited to questions of how to connect to the wi-fi. Jeff's wife, a cute thing with a stylish bob hairstyle, was always on the computer when not involved in the groups' activities.

Then there were Rupert and Katie from England, he a HP sales director, who along with his wife was getting away form the drudgeries of business. "competition is fierce," was all that he would allow when talking business, but who wants to bring troubles with them on a holiday.

As for the rest, mostly they come for a night and a day to recharge their batteries before the next stop. The family from Singapore, the father bald headed and austere, who smoked a cigar at meals, and his daughter who offered us a piece of their mother's birthday cake at breakfast. English, American, Dutch, German, and Italian, the guest come from everywhere, ships passing in the darkness with a brief "bon giorno" or other greeting, and that is it.

italian roads

2009-06-28T03:18:00.000-07:00

I almost lost my life today.

It happened on a short run rom the Villa Poggiale into San Casciono. The distance is short, about two miles, and the route from villa to city climbs the hill that San Casciono sits atop. The way up is not steep, winding left and right through the olive orchards and, now and again, past houses that butt into the road like the prow of a ship. Even when the houses do not narrow the roadway, the olive trees grow right next to the road. The road is narrow. At its widest, the road can handle two cars and then a little bit more. At its narrowest, cars stop to allow one to pass when two would not fit.

I said that I almost lost my life.

I was running along the road. I was on the left side facing traffic, the way my mother had taught me. All of the sudden, speeding along toward me was a car - sporty, short, and fast. European cars are built that way so that they can hug the corners of the small roadways like a Grand Prix racer. This car coming at me was like one of those racers, cutting the edge of the road so that he could cut down on the distance of his turn by an inch or two, and, in doing so, he came within six inches of me. I flatten myself against the hedge that grew along side the road, as he sped on and on.

Bicyclists seem to have no problems on these same narrow twisting roadways. But then, cars treat them with respect as if each bicyclist was in the Tour de France. Runners are not treated the same. Runners on Italian roadways are aberrations. They are like deer, fair game.

doors and windows

2009-06-28T01:05:00.001-07:00

Doors and windows are among the most photographed images in France and Italy. Red, blue, green, they are weathered and stained. Usually, doors and windows are set off by pots filled with colorful flowers or by vines arching above and over the entrance.

A door, a window and a cheese shop - even when the paint is not kept up, the look of the building is other-worldly as if time has frozen and we are transported in time and place to a simpler life.

Finally, add a bicycle to a door and a window and you have a perfect setting. Who needs a car?

trompe l'oeil

2009-06-28T00:45:00.000-07:00

During the Renaissance, painting ceilings was common place. Many ceilings were transformed into trompe l'oeil murals. A famous example is the Sistine Chapel painted by Michaelangelo between 1508 and 1512. The term trompe l'oeil refers to perspective illusionism, the ability to trick the eye into thinking that a two-dimensional painting has depth.

The sitting room of the Villa Poggiale uses trompe l'oeil in its arched 18 foot ceilings. The manner is more in the style of French Renaissance with the use of architectural features rather than with the use of natural scenes.

guelphs and ghibellines

2009-06-28T00:22:00.000-07:00

The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions in northern and central Italy supporting, respectively, the pope or the Holy Roman Emporor during the 12th and 13th centuries. Guelphs tended to come from wealthy mercantile families, whereas Ghibellines were predominantly those whose wealth was based on agricultural estates. They also adopted peculiar customs such as wearing a feather on a particular side of their hats, or cutting fruit a particular way, according to their affiliation.

Florence because of its trade in wool and financial interests was a supporter of the Guelphs. Then again, allegiances shifted within cities and parties often vied with each other for financial or religious reasons.

The tall towers that highlight the town of San Gimilgnano were built during the period that the Guelphs and Ghibellines vied for control and were in part built as a defense against the warring parties.

san casciano, italy

2009-06-28T00:17:00.000-07:00

San Casciano Val di Pesa, Italy - is on the highest of the hills separating Val di Pesa from Val di Greve, on Via Cassia, 16 kilometers south of Florence. It is a quiet town, not frequented by tourists because there are many more scenic towns, most significantly Florence to the north, but also San Gimilgnano a bit further to the south. The old part of the town is protected by a castle wall and is not accessible by car. Park where you can and get out and walk. You will find splendid shops that cater to Italians.

The area facing to the north is a suburb of Florence. To the south are spectacular views of the wine and olive growing area of Chianti. The area is one for rest and relaxation after the bustle of Florence.