Category Archives: Life and Death

Notes from Inside a Black Hole

Posted on May 29, 2015 by Touch2Touch

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 Black Holes, Courage, Health, Wisdom | 29 Comments

In Solidarity

Posted on January 7, 2015 by Touch2Touch

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 Blood, Evil, Freedom, Good, History, Hubris, Islam, Journalism, Martyrdom, Massacre, Paris, Terrorism | 36 Comments

TODAY’S PORTRAIT: REGAL ROSE

Posted on August 13, 2014 by Touch2Touch

I don’t think I’d ever seen a purple rose before this bouquet arrived from the florist one day. Not only was the color regal — “born to the purple” describes a status as well as a hue — but the very set … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Flowers, Life and Death, Memory | 29 Comments

TODAY’S PORTRAIT: violet

Posted on August 3, 2014 by Touch2Touch

In contrast to cheery Johnny Jump-ups and bold-faced pansies, there’s an introverted branch of the Violaceae family. Violets, true violets, are modest and demure. They shelter underneath their heart-shaped leaves, and even great masses of them never seem to call attention to themselves. Unless … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Life and Death, Mindfulness, Nature, Personal Essay, Poetry, Quotes, Wisdom | Tagged Beauty, Death, Elegies, Flowers, Modesty, Poetry, Violets, Wordsworth | 10 Comments

Appearance and Deception —

Posted on June 13, 2014 by Touch2Touch

We were happily wandering in a lovely area of the fabulous gardens at Chanticleer, in Wayne, PA, when we came across a dark stone Hermit’s Pool with fast-running water: It took a while for the shock to register. The photo reminds me of one of British … Continue reading →

Posted in Doubt, Life and Death, Poetry, Wisdom | Tagged Appearance, Deception, Poetry, Stevie Smith | 16 Comments

Hey, Fat Lady!

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Touch2Touch

“It ain’t over till the fat lady sings….” It’s a great phrase, isn’t it? It references what used to be the stereotypically overweight sopranos of Grand Opera. (Since the advent of the Metropolitan Opera’s HD television simulcasts, we’ve been getting glamour … Continue reading →

Posted in Angels, Challenge, Etcetera, Life and Death, Nature, Personal Essay, Pioneer Valley, Spring, winter | Tagged Mother Nature, Mothers, Nature, Opera, Spring, Winter, Wrath | 36 Comments

All Shall be Well —

Posted on February 17, 2014 by Touch2Touch

It’s a story that should begin, “Once upon a time.” It has that ageless storytale quality. Once upon a time there was a woman who was born on the 8th November 1342 (and how do we know that so definitively?), … Continue reading →

Posted in Etcetera, Life and Death, Memory, Personal Essay, Quotes, Wisdom, Wonderings | Tagged Hermits, Julian of Norwich, Mystics, Revelation, Saints, Visions, Wisdom | 16 Comments

What Matters in the End?

Posted on October 19, 2013 by Touch2Touch

Here is one answer, from playwright, author, actor Alice Childress: “Life is just a short walk from the cradle to the grave, and it sure behooves us to be kind to one another along the way.” And here is another, from … Continue reading →

Posted in Challenge, Definitions, Democracy, Freedom, Life and Death, Personal Essay, Quotes | Tagged Bible, Compassion, Dogs, Help, Human Beings, Kindness, Poetry | 24 Comments

Shock and Awe at Yale

Posted on June 30, 2013 by Touch2Touch

On a recent visit to the newly expanded and renovated Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, CT, this is the first thing that greeted our eyes beyond the glass doors: We automatically found ourselves looking up. Seeing nothing beyond … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Challenge, Etcetera, Life and Death | Tagged 9/11, Art, Art Galleries, Emotion, Museums, Sculpture | 21 Comments

WHAT DOES BEING HUMAN MEAN, ANYWAY?

Posted on April 16, 2013 by Touch2Touch

The eager innocent eyes are those of Martin Richard, 8 years old, first victim of the depraved bombers who desecrated the Boston Marathon. The marathon commemorates the horseback ride of Paul Revere to rouse his fellow countrymen on April 15th, … Continue reading →

Posted in Death, Democracy, Etcetera, Evolution, Failure, Happiness, Life and Death, Personal Essay | Tagged Bombings, Boston Marathon, Death, Human, Life, Terrorism | 21 Comments