alpine honey

From his summer in the Italian Alps, Sean brought home a half dozen souvenirs: some herbal genepi from Aosta, a stick of torrone for dad and, from his hamlet in Val D’Otro, a round of fresh goat cheese. And a jar of alpine honey ”for Auntie Belinda,” he said. “I bottled it myself: it’s strong… Continue reading

tribes of respect

Several strings of prayer flags form the ribs of an invisible tent above the summit cairn. A nearby stacked rock shrine houses a tilting scoured Madonna. And a small vertical bare wooden box with door held closed against the weather using a simple hook and eye protects a frayed and yellow journal: notes and prayers,… Continue reading

little buddha

Tonite I said to Sean “Buddy, know what makes me smile? That you dislike poetry and philosophy, and never fail to tell me so, but still you listen politely to the end before complaining.” “Daddy,” he replied somewhat facetiously, “that’s the little buddha in me.”

palace museum

In November I got an invitation to teach a one-week workshop at the Palace Museum on two diverse subjects: solubility parameters and anoxia.  We decided that the Christmas holiday would be a good fit with Sean’s school and our other work schedules, and Fall is usually nice weather in Taiwan (and that turned out to be true enough: sitting around… Continue reading