Tag: Baltimore
Charm City’s War
Since bicentennials are a once-in-a-lifetime experience, my Dear One and I found it impossible to ignore the “Star-Spangled Sailabration” of the War of 1812. That war is one of those conflicts largely ignored in American education. We’re very big on the War for Independence but leapfrog the War of 1812 to get to the…
Lietuva 5: Cuckoos, past and present
Yesterday as we walked through Grūtas Park, my Dear One halted and said, “Hear that? The cuckoo?” I listened and heard twitters and warbles and caws, but no cuckoo. “It’s just like a clock—can’t you hear it?” No, I couldn’t. But later on, back at Romove Homestead, I thought I had wandered into a Swiss…
The plan is no back-up plan
The weather report for Saturday, our wedding day, is ominous. It snowed steadily yesterday afternoon, a sifting of silver against the pewter sky. Before I went to bed I peered out the sidelights of the front door. All was white, all was soft in the bright lamplight. The air was already mild before breakfast as…
James and the Giant Fall
The subject line of Emily’s e-mail was “James and the Giant Fall.” The funny headline all but trumpeted the reassuring news contained in the note. James is the sixth of my mother’s grandchildren. A gangly, bearded boy, he is a lover of wild places and high elevations. The Giant Fall took place in Utah far…



