Dreaming Culture
Fire on the earth. Seeds in the garden. Rain from the sky. I sit. I breathe. I dream. Big trees, dancing over many years – too slow to really see, without living oneself as they…
Year: 2015
The Stag Who Lived Forever
It was a matter of great importance, and the morning wind that carries the mist and the butterflies carried the news in a kind of dance, like the laugh of the first baby, when it…
The Great Cabin: An Adventure on Board HMS Victory
In 2013, I had a very special and ever-memorable adventure on board the historic HMS Victory. But before telling my story, I’d like give a little background as to how I came to be a…
A Bard’s Prayer
Let me catch the flame, Golden, glittering, glaring, So my fingers may glow as I hold the pen. Let me taste the wine, Sweet, smooth, sumptuous, So my speech may be seasoned when I tell…
"Gentleman Johnny:" The Life and Times of General John Burgoyne
The Right Honorable General John Burgoyne, General in the British Army and MP for Preston, is probably most famous for commanding the losing Army at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777, during the American War…
Identity: What We Do Changes Who We Are
This thing about identity—there’s more here than meets the eye, more here than most psychologists talk about, more here than we can understand, and what I’m going to present is more questions than answers. But…
An English Jacobite: James Radcliffe, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater and the '15 Rising
“Circumstances unhappily concurred to draw [Derwentwater] into this snare, to his destruction, and the utter ruination of the most flourishing family in that part of the country”. So said Robert Patten, an Anglican clergyman who…
Why “Star Trek” – and Mr. Spock – Matter
I think my earliest memory of Star Trek is of an episode I watched at my grandparents’ house, a rerun of “Arena” — the original series episode pitting William Shatner’s Capt. James T. Kirk against…
Cap O’ Rushes: An Old English Fairy Tale in Verse
Once there lived a very rich manWho three daughters did haveHe thought to ask them one fine dayHow each did love him soTo see how fond each daughter wasHe questioned them thorough“How much do you…
Connecting with a Tree
Breathe out through the mouthPush from the stomachThen the chestRoll the shoulder inPush out the breathPush it awayBreathe in slowly through the noseFeel it pass the throatFill the chestArch your back to fill in every…