• Thar She Blows!

    Thar She Blows!

    I am a fan of Monty Python, if you have been living under a rock and don’t know – the British comedy troupe formed in 1969 in England when Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin joined forces.  Of course, I’m a fan of the movies (1975’s Monty Python…

  • Mothering

    Mothering

    After telling people that I’m adopted, the most common reply is a look of shock and then some variation on the question, “So, do you know your birthmother?”  Now, I’m smart enough to understand the question, but I believe that’s an unfortunate phrase, because in every way that matters my “adoptive” mother gave birth to…

  • Topophilia Au Jus

    Topophilia Au Jus

    I’ll begin with the title of this post. “Topophilia” comes from the Greek topos meaning ‘place’ and philia meaning ‘love of’ – so it literally means the love of a place and is usually mixed with the shared sense of cultural identity that people in that place develop.  It’s why people from New York City…

  • Miradero

    Miradero

    Leslie Coombs Brand was born on May 12th, 1859 in Florissant, Missouri.  His family was quite wealthy, but when Leslie was 10 years-old, his father died and left his mother with no means of supporting the family.  The next year, during a particularly severe blizzard in 1870, when many of his siblings were stricken with…