Author Archives: Touch2Touch

Going for the Triple Crown —w

I married a thoroughbred. I always knew it, but past events have really tested him, and so far he’s flown past them all like American Pharoah on his way to the Triple Crown, a bighearted thoroughbred all the way. Of … Continue reading

Posted in Etcetera | Tagged , , , , | 43 Comments

Notes from Inside a Black Hole

Serious illness, like a black hole, draws everything into itself. Energy, creativity, enthusiasm, all the factors essential to blogging, are subsumed and nothing is left outside. Which explains where I’ve been for so long. Not my illness, but the Hub’s. Now … Continue reading

Posted in Challenge, Flowers, Happiness, Health, Life and Death, Quotes, Wisdom | Tagged , , , | 29 Comments

Free My Feet!

  Viewpoint:  my feet,  from the podiatrist’s chair. After supporting me so faithfully for so many decades, the right and the left ones both show signs of wear and tear. Like my old Subaru, they need regular maintenance, and then some. … Continue reading

Posted in Challenge, Freedom, Health, Wonderings | Tagged , , , | 28 Comments

Borrowed Words (3): KINDNESS

In Japanese landscape gardening the word shakkei means “borrowed view.” The designer “borrows,” or incorporates, any view beyond property borders, thereby visually enlarging his own property and landscape.  In tough times of winter and darkness, cold and wind and discouragement, borrowed words have brought me (and … Continue reading

Posted in Buddha, Quotes, Spring, Wisdom | Tagged , , , | 21 Comments

Borrowed Words (2)

In Japanese landscape gardening the word shakkei means “borrowed view.” The designer “borrows,” or incorporates, any view beyond property borders, thereby visually enlarging his own property and landscape.  This winter in Northampton has meant enclosure in the house, trapped by unrelenting cold and snow, and enclosure … Continue reading

Posted in Japan, Quotes, winter, Wisdom, Writers | Tagged , , , | 16 Comments

“Borrowed Words”

In Japanese landscape gardening the word shakkei means “borrowed view.” The designer “borrows,” or incorporates, any view beyond property borders, thereby visually enlarging his own property and landscape. This winter in New England is already legendary for its deep snows and brutal cold. It’s robbed energy and … Continue reading

Posted in Quotes, winter, Wisdom, Writers | Tagged , , , , , | 12 Comments

SNOW

Yes, snow. Stark and simple word for the white wilderness that circumscribes our lives here in the Northeast US. I can’t find adequate words to do justice to it. Maybe photos can convey some of our winter: Our patio at the beginning of December … Continue reading

Posted in Nature, Pioneer Valley, winter | Tagged , , , | 29 Comments

Laid Low

Ever since I first read the English author Jane Austen when I was a girl, I’ve been in love with her and everything she wrote. I’ve reread all of her novels periodically over the years. Winston Churchill read Jane (her … Continue reading

Posted in Health, Medicine | Tagged , , , , , , | 39 Comments

HOW WE REPINE — OR SING

“Each bird sings the song its beak allows.”                                              Mère Tarsisius This piece of wisdom has long been an … Continue reading

Posted in Friendship, Personal Essay, Quotes, Wisdom | Tagged , , , , , , | 41 Comments

In Solidarity

  Today in Paris, the other shoe dropped. The satirical cartoon magazine Charlie Hebdo has been under threat for years now from militant Islamists for “blasphemy.”  Their offices have been bombed, and the editor, Stephane Charbonnier, has lived since 2011 with a personal bodyguard. … Continue reading

Posted in Challenge, Definitions, Freedom, Life and Death, Personal Essay, Quotes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 36 Comments