July 5th. Yet another Independence Day experienced and consigned to memory. We American’s are urged to experience feelings of dedication, of fond attachment for our country especially at this time of year. As in past years, from curbside I witnessed the Wheaton 4th of July parade. I’d wager this parade is exceptional for the…
PLAY Is not the opposite of work but the improvisational genius the inner child sage PLAY Is rehearsal for reality remaking of reality myth-making in motion shapeshifting on purpose how we make love to uncertainty composing music out of paradox HOLY PLAY Sabotages fanaticism and dogmatic ferocity MUST sabotage fanaticism can you dignify plain…
Today is Wednesday our second day at home. Slowly the body adjusts to the mid-western time zone. France is seven time zones earlier than Chicago. (Tomorrow perhaps I will not be wake at 5AM) A memory that lingers is our Bateaux Mouches cruise up the Seine at dusk in Paris. This is an ancient…
Back at last. Ten days in France became twelve. The airline cancelled our return flight. The lesson was learned which I suppose all seasoned travelers know. When reservations are upended by circumstance one thing alone matters, – to hash out the details of an alternate flight yourself. The airline is unlikely to independently reschedule…
Travel in a foreign country asks the traveler to adapt. Humans can be very adaptive. Or frozen, by patterns of past experience, those impossible expectations paralyzing the mind, and then spinning like a top, after energy is spent, wobbling to fall over. It is Sunday morning, I compose these lines at the end of…
We stayed a night in Tours. Tours was once the capital of France. I will always remember the Starbucks that looked convenient across the street. There I’d be able to simply order medium-sized, dark roast coffee as I am accustomed back in the states. It happened not to be found on the menu board….
Our fourth day in France featured a pilgrimage to Chartres. Could one conclude that the cathedral at Chartres is one of the wonders of the world? Yesterday in conversation with three Parisians we mentioned our plans to visit Chartres. Their eyes became wide, they assured us Chartres was amazing. The story of this great…
The day three, another outstanding breakfast at our hotel. The French feature of flakey, buttery pastry and fresh fruit, plus a charcuterie board is impossible to beat by my breakfast standards. My standard of what makes a good breakfast has been elevated. Today is Sunday. We arrived at the church of Saint Augustin, where…
The first day in Paris featured several outdoor mini-concerts, the first at the Eiffel Tower, the second occurring among the swirl of an outdoor music festival organized by the French government. The rationale of our visit to France is the opportunity for performances by the Fox Valley Festival Chorus. The often mention in the…
This is to be our second day in Paris. I have a strange sensation of being in a country, and a city that in my fathers time suffered four long years of German occupation. I cannot exactly describe the feeling of walking along the Seine yesterday afternoon, the air filled with the sounds of…
