Singing Along the Journey

Travel

Long long ago…and tomorrow

Someone very dear to me (and you know who you are) once said to me:  "I see God in you....in  your constant commitment to learning and questioning and knowing what it is, exactly, that God is telling you.  Keep asking questions.  I think God is in the questions for you--you see Him there."  Well, I have a confession to make:  I really haven't been asking too many questions the last couple of months -- I believe, really, that I was tired.  And, that maybe it was time to just let a year of whirling-dervish question- asking settle. But, as will probably not surprise this friend and many others, as I…
Read More

Living in baptism

I am a very, very fortunate person.  Through some twist of fate, it seems that a trip to the beach has, for the last few years, fallen on the week of my birthday.  So this year, again, I had the chance to celebrate the anniversary of my arrival on this little planet from a beach in Mexico. But this year was not by any imagination business as usual on our few days in the sun. This year, instead of sitting comfortably on my beach palapa bed  in the shade and watching the fun in the waves, I decided make a change.  I actually got in the water. Well, it wasn't really a decision -- not like deciding which book to…
Read More

Guilty pleasures…

I think, perhaps, that I might have given a wrong impression of myself in these writings.  Yes, I am a nerd in so many ways, and I am a pretty serious person (although I have a mighty free laugh for someone who is so serious), but I really don't work or think lofty thoughts every minute of the day.  Well, at least I try not to view everything with a deeply philosophical eye. One of my favorite guilty pleasures is realized most often when I'm travelling. And that pleasure is -- reading mystery novels.  Before I go any further, I should be specific, because I don't read just ANY mystery novels…
Read More

Standing on the edge…

I've been standing on the edge for the past few days...the edge of space between cultures, the edge of spirit between faiths, the edge of history at a time when the whole world changed (a couple of times).  I just returned from 5 days in Istanbul. Oh, yes, I've heard (and made) the jokes about spending Turkey Day in Turkey.  And frankly, I wasn't really certain about why I wanted to go to Istanbul until I returned home (so typical).  But truth be told, no description, no guide book or digital slide show can tell you the power of  the place.  You just have to be there. How could I know…
Read More

I’ve been fed…

(Written while on retreate at Montreat Conference Center, posted later) I'm sitting here in my little wooden chair, in my room at the Assembly Inn at the Montreat Conference Center, having just had a cold shower (hot water is an issue here, but the shower wasn't that bad), with the windows wide open to the cold morning air of the mountains, watching the light creep up over the edge of the baby mountain in front of me.  I'm sitting here in the dark, waiting for day that mostly involves driving and flying, and I'm thinking...I don't care.  I don't care, because I've been fed. And I don't mean the exceptional…
Read More

Burning off the fog…

In a couple of days I'm heading for away for a fall mini-vacation to the mountains.  Fall is my favorite time to vacation and I rarely get to experience its beauties away from the city, because of other demands.  My friend, Leah, is hosting a wonderful series about the glories of the fall season on her blog.   I'm hoping that I'm not too early to get to experience the season's glory on my little mountain trip. It's mountains and leaves and fog that is on my mind, as I think about the past few days of my life. I'll admit it, I had a particularly tough weekend.  Things are clearer…
Read More

Those little choices in life…

There are moments when we face a seemingly little choice, but how we choose can change the whole course of our lives.  Funny thing, we don’t always see those moments when we face them.  Luckily, yesterday, I did. Right now, I’m on the train between Granada and Madrid on the final leg of my journey here in Spain.  In two days, I will finally board the plane and return home. But yesterday, well, yesterday wasn’t such a good day, at least in the beginning.  I was so dreadfully tired, and to tell the truth, I wasn’t totally happy with the way I had sung on the concert the night before. …
Read More

It was not a mistake…

Last year, I declared a moritorium on two things:  taking classes and travelling to sing.  And it served me well...I needed to sit and listen.  From that decision to basically stand still, a lot of good things came...I heard more clearly the call of God in my life, I was baptized, I was licensed, I made a CD, and I calmed down enough that I started to, finally, sing pretty well. And once all that happened, I was feeling pretty good and pretty grounded -- so I immediately went back to taking classes and travelling to sing.  By the time I had finished my class in Music and Social Justice,…
Read More

Goodbye, Seville…Hello Granada

A funny thing happens to me when I'm travelling like I am this summer...I forget that I am travelling.  Yes, I start to think that this is my life (which it is, actually) and I start to think that, well, I live here.  I seek out the signs of settlement -- grocery stores, places to [caption id="attachment_383" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Toro del Orro as seen from the river on my last night"][/caption] pick up the little needs in life like pharmacies, places to wash my clothes and get them cleaned, where to pick up my favorite tea -- places like that. And the same thing that usually happens to me happened…
Read More

Carmen lives…

I love to visit museums when I travel. The ones that I love most, however, are the quirky little museums that are off the beaten path.  I’ve enjoyed many of them in my travels:  the Musée de Dame aux Camelias, somewhere in the Normandy countryside of France (where I saw the personal items of the woman who created such a stir in 19th century Paris, and who comes to us in the opera La Traviata and the classic movie Camille);  the Musée de la Vie Romantique in the 18th Arrondisment in Paris, the Franz Liszt House in Budapest. And today, I added to the list – I went to the…
Read More

Long long ago…and tomorrow

Someone very dear to me (and you know who you are) once said to me:  "I see God in you....in  your constant commitment to learning and questioning and knowing what it is, exactly, that God is telling you.  Keep asking questions.  I think God is in the questions for you--you see Him there."  Well, I have a confession to make:  I really haven't been asking too many questions the last couple of months -- I believe, really, that I was tired.  And, that maybe it was time to just let a year of whirling-dervish question- asking settle. But, as will probably not surprise this friend and many others, as I…
Read More

Living in baptism

I am a very, very fortunate person.  Through some twist of fate, it seems that a trip to the beach has, for the last few years, fallen on the week of my birthday.  So this year, again, I had the chance to celebrate the anniversary of my arrival on this little planet from a beach in Mexico. But this year was not by any imagination business as usual on our few days in the sun. This year, instead of sitting comfortably on my beach palapa bed  in the shade and watching the fun in the waves, I decided make a change.  I actually got in the water. Well, it wasn't really a decision -- not like deciding which book to…
Read More

Guilty pleasures…

I think, perhaps, that I might have given a wrong impression of myself in these writings.  Yes, I am a nerd in so many ways, and I am a pretty serious person (although I have a mighty free laugh for someone who is so serious), but I really don't work or think lofty thoughts every minute of the day.  Well, at least I try not to view everything with a deeply philosophical eye. One of my favorite guilty pleasures is realized most often when I'm travelling. And that pleasure is -- reading mystery novels.  Before I go any further, I should be specific, because I don't read just ANY mystery novels…
Read More

Standing on the edge…

I've been standing on the edge for the past few days...the edge of space between cultures, the edge of spirit between faiths, the edge of history at a time when the whole world changed (a couple of times).  I just returned from 5 days in Istanbul. Oh, yes, I've heard (and made) the jokes about spending Turkey Day in Turkey.  And frankly, I wasn't really certain about why I wanted to go to Istanbul until I returned home (so typical).  But truth be told, no description, no guide book or digital slide show can tell you the power of  the place.  You just have to be there. How could I know…
Read More

I’ve been fed…

(Written while on retreate at Montreat Conference Center, posted later) I'm sitting here in my little wooden chair, in my room at the Assembly Inn at the Montreat Conference Center, having just had a cold shower (hot water is an issue here, but the shower wasn't that bad), with the windows wide open to the cold morning air of the mountains, watching the light creep up over the edge of the baby mountain in front of me.  I'm sitting here in the dark, waiting for day that mostly involves driving and flying, and I'm thinking...I don't care.  I don't care, because I've been fed. And I don't mean the exceptional…
Read More

Burning off the fog…

In a couple of days I'm heading for away for a fall mini-vacation to the mountains.  Fall is my favorite time to vacation and I rarely get to experience its beauties away from the city, because of other demands.  My friend, Leah, is hosting a wonderful series about the glories of the fall season on her blog.   I'm hoping that I'm not too early to get to experience the season's glory on my little mountain trip. It's mountains and leaves and fog that is on my mind, as I think about the past few days of my life. I'll admit it, I had a particularly tough weekend.  Things are clearer…
Read More

Those little choices in life…

There are moments when we face a seemingly little choice, but how we choose can change the whole course of our lives.  Funny thing, we don’t always see those moments when we face them.  Luckily, yesterday, I did. Right now, I’m on the train between Granada and Madrid on the final leg of my journey here in Spain.  In two days, I will finally board the plane and return home. But yesterday, well, yesterday wasn’t such a good day, at least in the beginning.  I was so dreadfully tired, and to tell the truth, I wasn’t totally happy with the way I had sung on the concert the night before. …
Read More

It was not a mistake…

Last year, I declared a moritorium on two things:  taking classes and travelling to sing.  And it served me well...I needed to sit and listen.  From that decision to basically stand still, a lot of good things came...I heard more clearly the call of God in my life, I was baptized, I was licensed, I made a CD, and I calmed down enough that I started to, finally, sing pretty well. And once all that happened, I was feeling pretty good and pretty grounded -- so I immediately went back to taking classes and travelling to sing.  By the time I had finished my class in Music and Social Justice,…
Read More

Goodbye, Seville…Hello Granada

A funny thing happens to me when I'm travelling like I am this summer...I forget that I am travelling.  Yes, I start to think that this is my life (which it is, actually) and I start to think that, well, I live here.  I seek out the signs of settlement -- grocery stores, places to [caption id="attachment_383" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Toro del Orro as seen from the river on my last night"][/caption] pick up the little needs in life like pharmacies, places to wash my clothes and get them cleaned, where to pick up my favorite tea -- places like that. And the same thing that usually happens to me happened…
Read More

Carmen lives…

I love to visit museums when I travel. The ones that I love most, however, are the quirky little museums that are off the beaten path.  I’ve enjoyed many of them in my travels:  the Musée de Dame aux Camelias, somewhere in the Normandy countryside of France (where I saw the personal items of the woman who created such a stir in 19th century Paris, and who comes to us in the opera La Traviata and the classic movie Camille);  the Musée de la Vie Romantique in the 18th Arrondisment in Paris, the Franz Liszt House in Budapest. And today, I added to the list – I went to the…
Read More

Long long ago…and tomorrow

Someone very dear to me (and you know who you are) once said to me:  "I see God in you....in  your constant commitment to learning and questioning and knowing what it is, exactly, that God is telling you.  Keep asking questions.  I think God is in the questions for you--you see Him there."  Well, I have a confession to make:  I really haven't been asking too many questions the last couple of months -- I believe, really, that I was tired.  And, that maybe it was time to just let a year of whirling-dervish question- asking settle. But, as will probably not surprise this friend and many others, as I…
Read More

Living in baptism

I am a very, very fortunate person.  Through some twist of fate, it seems that a trip to the beach has, for the last few years, fallen on the week of my birthday.  So this year, again, I had the chance to celebrate the anniversary of my arrival on this little planet from a beach in Mexico. But this year was not by any imagination business as usual on our few days in the sun. This year, instead of sitting comfortably on my beach palapa bed  in the shade and watching the fun in the waves, I decided make a change.  I actually got in the water. Well, it wasn't really a decision -- not like deciding which book to…
Read More

Guilty pleasures…

I think, perhaps, that I might have given a wrong impression of myself in these writings.  Yes, I am a nerd in so many ways, and I am a pretty serious person (although I have a mighty free laugh for someone who is so serious), but I really don't work or think lofty thoughts every minute of the day.  Well, at least I try not to view everything with a deeply philosophical eye. One of my favorite guilty pleasures is realized most often when I'm travelling. And that pleasure is -- reading mystery novels.  Before I go any further, I should be specific, because I don't read just ANY mystery novels…
Read More

Standing on the edge…

I've been standing on the edge for the past few days...the edge of space between cultures, the edge of spirit between faiths, the edge of history at a time when the whole world changed (a couple of times).  I just returned from 5 days in Istanbul. Oh, yes, I've heard (and made) the jokes about spending Turkey Day in Turkey.  And frankly, I wasn't really certain about why I wanted to go to Istanbul until I returned home (so typical).  But truth be told, no description, no guide book or digital slide show can tell you the power of  the place.  You just have to be there. How could I know…
Read More

I’ve been fed…

(Written while on retreate at Montreat Conference Center, posted later) I'm sitting here in my little wooden chair, in my room at the Assembly Inn at the Montreat Conference Center, having just had a cold shower (hot water is an issue here, but the shower wasn't that bad), with the windows wide open to the cold morning air of the mountains, watching the light creep up over the edge of the baby mountain in front of me.  I'm sitting here in the dark, waiting for day that mostly involves driving and flying, and I'm thinking...I don't care.  I don't care, because I've been fed. And I don't mean the exceptional…
Read More

Burning off the fog…

In a couple of days I'm heading for away for a fall mini-vacation to the mountains.  Fall is my favorite time to vacation and I rarely get to experience its beauties away from the city, because of other demands.  My friend, Leah, is hosting a wonderful series about the glories of the fall season on her blog.   I'm hoping that I'm not too early to get to experience the season's glory on my little mountain trip. It's mountains and leaves and fog that is on my mind, as I think about the past few days of my life. I'll admit it, I had a particularly tough weekend.  Things are clearer…
Read More

Those little choices in life…

There are moments when we face a seemingly little choice, but how we choose can change the whole course of our lives.  Funny thing, we don’t always see those moments when we face them.  Luckily, yesterday, I did. Right now, I’m on the train between Granada and Madrid on the final leg of my journey here in Spain.  In two days, I will finally board the plane and return home. But yesterday, well, yesterday wasn’t such a good day, at least in the beginning.  I was so dreadfully tired, and to tell the truth, I wasn’t totally happy with the way I had sung on the concert the night before. …
Read More

It was not a mistake…

Last year, I declared a moritorium on two things:  taking classes and travelling to sing.  And it served me well...I needed to sit and listen.  From that decision to basically stand still, a lot of good things came...I heard more clearly the call of God in my life, I was baptized, I was licensed, I made a CD, and I calmed down enough that I started to, finally, sing pretty well. And once all that happened, I was feeling pretty good and pretty grounded -- so I immediately went back to taking classes and travelling to sing.  By the time I had finished my class in Music and Social Justice,…
Read More

Goodbye, Seville…Hello Granada

A funny thing happens to me when I'm travelling like I am this summer...I forget that I am travelling.  Yes, I start to think that this is my life (which it is, actually) and I start to think that, well, I live here.  I seek out the signs of settlement -- grocery stores, places to [caption id="attachment_383" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Toro del Orro as seen from the river on my last night"][/caption] pick up the little needs in life like pharmacies, places to wash my clothes and get them cleaned, where to pick up my favorite tea -- places like that. And the same thing that usually happens to me happened…
Read More

Carmen lives…

I love to visit museums when I travel. The ones that I love most, however, are the quirky little museums that are off the beaten path.  I’ve enjoyed many of them in my travels:  the Musée de Dame aux Camelias, somewhere in the Normandy countryside of France (where I saw the personal items of the woman who created such a stir in 19th century Paris, and who comes to us in the opera La Traviata and the classic movie Camille);  the Musée de la Vie Romantique in the 18th Arrondisment in Paris, the Franz Liszt House in Budapest. And today, I added to the list – I went to the…
Read More

Long long ago…and tomorrow

Someone very dear to me (and you know who you are) once said to me:  "I see God in you....in  your constant commitment to learning and questioning and knowing what it is, exactly, that God is telling you.  Keep asking questions.  I think God is in the questions for you--you see Him there."  Well, I have a confession to make:  I really haven't been asking too many questions the last couple of months -- I believe, really, that I was tired.  And, that maybe it was time to just let a year of whirling-dervish question- asking settle. But, as will probably not surprise this friend and many others, as I…
Read More

Living in baptism

I am a very, very fortunate person.  Through some twist of fate, it seems that a trip to the beach has, for the last few years, fallen on the week of my birthday.  So this year, again, I had the chance to celebrate the anniversary of my arrival on this little planet from a beach in Mexico. But this year was not by any imagination business as usual on our few days in the sun. This year, instead of sitting comfortably on my beach palapa bed  in the shade and watching the fun in the waves, I decided make a change.  I actually got in the water. Well, it wasn't really a decision -- not like deciding which book to…
Read More

Guilty pleasures…

I think, perhaps, that I might have given a wrong impression of myself in these writings.  Yes, I am a nerd in so many ways, and I am a pretty serious person (although I have a mighty free laugh for someone who is so serious), but I really don't work or think lofty thoughts every minute of the day.  Well, at least I try not to view everything with a deeply philosophical eye. One of my favorite guilty pleasures is realized most often when I'm travelling. And that pleasure is -- reading mystery novels.  Before I go any further, I should be specific, because I don't read just ANY mystery novels…
Read More

Standing on the edge…

I've been standing on the edge for the past few days...the edge of space between cultures, the edge of spirit between faiths, the edge of history at a time when the whole world changed (a couple of times).  I just returned from 5 days in Istanbul. Oh, yes, I've heard (and made) the jokes about spending Turkey Day in Turkey.  And frankly, I wasn't really certain about why I wanted to go to Istanbul until I returned home (so typical).  But truth be told, no description, no guide book or digital slide show can tell you the power of  the place.  You just have to be there. How could I know…
Read More

I’ve been fed…

(Written while on retreate at Montreat Conference Center, posted later) I'm sitting here in my little wooden chair, in my room at the Assembly Inn at the Montreat Conference Center, having just had a cold shower (hot water is an issue here, but the shower wasn't that bad), with the windows wide open to the cold morning air of the mountains, watching the light creep up over the edge of the baby mountain in front of me.  I'm sitting here in the dark, waiting for day that mostly involves driving and flying, and I'm thinking...I don't care.  I don't care, because I've been fed. And I don't mean the exceptional…
Read More

Burning off the fog…

In a couple of days I'm heading for away for a fall mini-vacation to the mountains.  Fall is my favorite time to vacation and I rarely get to experience its beauties away from the city, because of other demands.  My friend, Leah, is hosting a wonderful series about the glories of the fall season on her blog.   I'm hoping that I'm not too early to get to experience the season's glory on my little mountain trip. It's mountains and leaves and fog that is on my mind, as I think about the past few days of my life. I'll admit it, I had a particularly tough weekend.  Things are clearer…
Read More

Those little choices in life…

There are moments when we face a seemingly little choice, but how we choose can change the whole course of our lives.  Funny thing, we don’t always see those moments when we face them.  Luckily, yesterday, I did. Right now, I’m on the train between Granada and Madrid on the final leg of my journey here in Spain.  In two days, I will finally board the plane and return home. But yesterday, well, yesterday wasn’t such a good day, at least in the beginning.  I was so dreadfully tired, and to tell the truth, I wasn’t totally happy with the way I had sung on the concert the night before. …
Read More

It was not a mistake…

Last year, I declared a moritorium on two things:  taking classes and travelling to sing.  And it served me well...I needed to sit and listen.  From that decision to basically stand still, a lot of good things came...I heard more clearly the call of God in my life, I was baptized, I was licensed, I made a CD, and I calmed down enough that I started to, finally, sing pretty well. And once all that happened, I was feeling pretty good and pretty grounded -- so I immediately went back to taking classes and travelling to sing.  By the time I had finished my class in Music and Social Justice,…
Read More

Goodbye, Seville…Hello Granada

A funny thing happens to me when I'm travelling like I am this summer...I forget that I am travelling.  Yes, I start to think that this is my life (which it is, actually) and I start to think that, well, I live here.  I seek out the signs of settlement -- grocery stores, places to [caption id="attachment_383" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Toro del Orro as seen from the river on my last night"][/caption] pick up the little needs in life like pharmacies, places to wash my clothes and get them cleaned, where to pick up my favorite tea -- places like that. And the same thing that usually happens to me happened…
Read More

Carmen lives…

I love to visit museums when I travel. The ones that I love most, however, are the quirky little museums that are off the beaten path.  I’ve enjoyed many of them in my travels:  the Musée de Dame aux Camelias, somewhere in the Normandy countryside of France (where I saw the personal items of the woman who created such a stir in 19th century Paris, and who comes to us in the opera La Traviata and the classic movie Camille);  the Musée de la Vie Romantique in the 18th Arrondisment in Paris, the Franz Liszt House in Budapest. And today, I added to the list – I went to the…
Read More

Long long ago…and tomorrow

Someone very dear to me (and you know who you are) once said to me:  "I see God in you....in  your constant commitment to learning and questioning and knowing what it is, exactly, that God is telling you.  Keep asking questions.  I think God is in the questions for you--you see Him there."  Well, I have a confession to make:  I really haven't been asking too many questions the last couple of months -- I believe, really, that I was tired.  And, that maybe it was time to just let a year of whirling-dervish question- asking settle. But, as will probably not surprise this friend and many others, as I…
Read More

Living in baptism

I am a very, very fortunate person.  Through some twist of fate, it seems that a trip to the beach has, for the last few years, fallen on the week of my birthday.  So this year, again, I had the chance to celebrate the anniversary of my arrival on this little planet from a beach in Mexico. But this year was not by any imagination business as usual on our few days in the sun. This year, instead of sitting comfortably on my beach palapa bed  in the shade and watching the fun in the waves, I decided make a change.  I actually got in the water. Well, it wasn't really a decision -- not like deciding which book to…
Read More

Guilty pleasures…

I think, perhaps, that I might have given a wrong impression of myself in these writings.  Yes, I am a nerd in so many ways, and I am a pretty serious person (although I have a mighty free laugh for someone who is so serious), but I really don't work or think lofty thoughts every minute of the day.  Well, at least I try not to view everything with a deeply philosophical eye. One of my favorite guilty pleasures is realized most often when I'm travelling. And that pleasure is -- reading mystery novels.  Before I go any further, I should be specific, because I don't read just ANY mystery novels…
Read More

Standing on the edge…

I've been standing on the edge for the past few days...the edge of space between cultures, the edge of spirit between faiths, the edge of history at a time when the whole world changed (a couple of times).  I just returned from 5 days in Istanbul. Oh, yes, I've heard (and made) the jokes about spending Turkey Day in Turkey.  And frankly, I wasn't really certain about why I wanted to go to Istanbul until I returned home (so typical).  But truth be told, no description, no guide book or digital slide show can tell you the power of  the place.  You just have to be there. How could I know…
Read More

I’ve been fed…

(Written while on retreate at Montreat Conference Center, posted later) I'm sitting here in my little wooden chair, in my room at the Assembly Inn at the Montreat Conference Center, having just had a cold shower (hot water is an issue here, but the shower wasn't that bad), with the windows wide open to the cold morning air of the mountains, watching the light creep up over the edge of the baby mountain in front of me.  I'm sitting here in the dark, waiting for day that mostly involves driving and flying, and I'm thinking...I don't care.  I don't care, because I've been fed. And I don't mean the exceptional…
Read More

Burning off the fog…

In a couple of days I'm heading for away for a fall mini-vacation to the mountains.  Fall is my favorite time to vacation and I rarely get to experience its beauties away from the city, because of other demands.  My friend, Leah, is hosting a wonderful series about the glories of the fall season on her blog.   I'm hoping that I'm not too early to get to experience the season's glory on my little mountain trip. It's mountains and leaves and fog that is on my mind, as I think about the past few days of my life. I'll admit it, I had a particularly tough weekend.  Things are clearer…
Read More

Those little choices in life…

There are moments when we face a seemingly little choice, but how we choose can change the whole course of our lives.  Funny thing, we don’t always see those moments when we face them.  Luckily, yesterday, I did. Right now, I’m on the train between Granada and Madrid on the final leg of my journey here in Spain.  In two days, I will finally board the plane and return home. But yesterday, well, yesterday wasn’t such a good day, at least in the beginning.  I was so dreadfully tired, and to tell the truth, I wasn’t totally happy with the way I had sung on the concert the night before. …
Read More

It was not a mistake…

Last year, I declared a moritorium on two things:  taking classes and travelling to sing.  And it served me well...I needed to sit and listen.  From that decision to basically stand still, a lot of good things came...I heard more clearly the call of God in my life, I was baptized, I was licensed, I made a CD, and I calmed down enough that I started to, finally, sing pretty well. And once all that happened, I was feeling pretty good and pretty grounded -- so I immediately went back to taking classes and travelling to sing.  By the time I had finished my class in Music and Social Justice,…
Read More

Goodbye, Seville…Hello Granada

A funny thing happens to me when I'm travelling like I am this summer...I forget that I am travelling.  Yes, I start to think that this is my life (which it is, actually) and I start to think that, well, I live here.  I seek out the signs of settlement -- grocery stores, places to [caption id="attachment_383" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Toro del Orro as seen from the river on my last night"][/caption] pick up the little needs in life like pharmacies, places to wash my clothes and get them cleaned, where to pick up my favorite tea -- places like that. And the same thing that usually happens to me happened…
Read More

Carmen lives…

I love to visit museums when I travel. The ones that I love most, however, are the quirky little museums that are off the beaten path.  I’ve enjoyed many of them in my travels:  the Musée de Dame aux Camelias, somewhere in the Normandy countryside of France (where I saw the personal items of the woman who created such a stir in 19th century Paris, and who comes to us in the opera La Traviata and the classic movie Camille);  the Musée de la Vie Romantique in the 18th Arrondisment in Paris, the Franz Liszt House in Budapest. And today, I added to the list – I went to the…
Read More

Long long ago…and tomorrow

Someone very dear to me (and you know who you are) once said to me:  "I see God in you....in  your constant commitment to learning and questioning and knowing what it is, exactly, that God is telling you.  Keep asking questions.  I think God is in the questions for you--you see Him there."  Well, I have a confession to make:  I really haven't been asking too many questions the last couple of months -- I believe, really, that I was tired.  And, that maybe it was time to just let a year of whirling-dervish question- asking settle. But, as will probably not surprise this friend and many others, as I…
Read More

Living in baptism

I am a very, very fortunate person.  Through some twist of fate, it seems that a trip to the beach has, for the last few years, fallen on the week of my birthday.  So this year, again, I had the chance to celebrate the anniversary of my arrival on this little planet from a beach in Mexico. But this year was not by any imagination business as usual on our few days in the sun. This year, instead of sitting comfortably on my beach palapa bed  in the shade and watching the fun in the waves, I decided make a change.  I actually got in the water. Well, it wasn't really a decision -- not like deciding which book to…
Read More

Guilty pleasures…

I think, perhaps, that I might have given a wrong impression of myself in these writings.  Yes, I am a nerd in so many ways, and I am a pretty serious person (although I have a mighty free laugh for someone who is so serious), but I really don't work or think lofty thoughts every minute of the day.  Well, at least I try not to view everything with a deeply philosophical eye. One of my favorite guilty pleasures is realized most often when I'm travelling. And that pleasure is -- reading mystery novels.  Before I go any further, I should be specific, because I don't read just ANY mystery novels…
Read More

Standing on the edge…

I've been standing on the edge for the past few days...the edge of space between cultures, the edge of spirit between faiths, the edge of history at a time when the whole world changed (a couple of times).  I just returned from 5 days in Istanbul. Oh, yes, I've heard (and made) the jokes about spending Turkey Day in Turkey.  And frankly, I wasn't really certain about why I wanted to go to Istanbul until I returned home (so typical).  But truth be told, no description, no guide book or digital slide show can tell you the power of  the place.  You just have to be there. How could I know…
Read More

I’ve been fed…

(Written while on retreate at Montreat Conference Center, posted later) I'm sitting here in my little wooden chair, in my room at the Assembly Inn at the Montreat Conference Center, having just had a cold shower (hot water is an issue here, but the shower wasn't that bad), with the windows wide open to the cold morning air of the mountains, watching the light creep up over the edge of the baby mountain in front of me.  I'm sitting here in the dark, waiting for day that mostly involves driving and flying, and I'm thinking...I don't care.  I don't care, because I've been fed. And I don't mean the exceptional…
Read More

Burning off the fog…

In a couple of days I'm heading for away for a fall mini-vacation to the mountains.  Fall is my favorite time to vacation and I rarely get to experience its beauties away from the city, because of other demands.  My friend, Leah, is hosting a wonderful series about the glories of the fall season on her blog.   I'm hoping that I'm not too early to get to experience the season's glory on my little mountain trip. It's mountains and leaves and fog that is on my mind, as I think about the past few days of my life. I'll admit it, I had a particularly tough weekend.  Things are clearer…
Read More

Those little choices in life…

There are moments when we face a seemingly little choice, but how we choose can change the whole course of our lives.  Funny thing, we don’t always see those moments when we face them.  Luckily, yesterday, I did. Right now, I’m on the train between Granada and Madrid on the final leg of my journey here in Spain.  In two days, I will finally board the plane and return home. But yesterday, well, yesterday wasn’t such a good day, at least in the beginning.  I was so dreadfully tired, and to tell the truth, I wasn’t totally happy with the way I had sung on the concert the night before. …
Read More

It was not a mistake…

Last year, I declared a moritorium on two things:  taking classes and travelling to sing.  And it served me well...I needed to sit and listen.  From that decision to basically stand still, a lot of good things came...I heard more clearly the call of God in my life, I was baptized, I was licensed, I made a CD, and I calmed down enough that I started to, finally, sing pretty well. And once all that happened, I was feeling pretty good and pretty grounded -- so I immediately went back to taking classes and travelling to sing.  By the time I had finished my class in Music and Social Justice,…
Read More

Goodbye, Seville…Hello Granada

A funny thing happens to me when I'm travelling like I am this summer...I forget that I am travelling.  Yes, I start to think that this is my life (which it is, actually) and I start to think that, well, I live here.  I seek out the signs of settlement -- grocery stores, places to [caption id="attachment_383" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Toro del Orro as seen from the river on my last night"][/caption] pick up the little needs in life like pharmacies, places to wash my clothes and get them cleaned, where to pick up my favorite tea -- places like that. And the same thing that usually happens to me happened…
Read More

Carmen lives…

I love to visit museums when I travel. The ones that I love most, however, are the quirky little museums that are off the beaten path.  I’ve enjoyed many of them in my travels:  the Musée de Dame aux Camelias, somewhere in the Normandy countryside of France (where I saw the personal items of the woman who created such a stir in 19th century Paris, and who comes to us in the opera La Traviata and the classic movie Camille);  the Musée de la Vie Romantique in the 18th Arrondisment in Paris, the Franz Liszt House in Budapest. And today, I added to the list – I went to the…
Read More

Long long ago…and tomorrow

Someone very dear to me (and you know who you are) once said to me:  "I see God in you....in  your constant commitment to learning and questioning and knowing what it is, exactly, that God is telling you.  Keep asking questions.  I think God is in the questions for you--you see Him there."  Well, I have a confession to make:  I really haven't been asking too many questions the last couple of months -- I believe, really, that I was tired.  And, that maybe it was time to just let a year of whirling-dervish question- asking settle. But, as will probably not surprise this friend and many others, as I…
Read More

Living in baptism

I am a very, very fortunate person.  Through some twist of fate, it seems that a trip to the beach has, for the last few years, fallen on the week of my birthday.  So this year, again, I had the chance to celebrate the anniversary of my arrival on this little planet from a beach in Mexico. But this year was not by any imagination business as usual on our few days in the sun. This year, instead of sitting comfortably on my beach palapa bed  in the shade and watching the fun in the waves, I decided make a change.  I actually got in the water. Well, it wasn't really a decision -- not like deciding which book to…
Read More

Guilty pleasures…

I think, perhaps, that I might have given a wrong impression of myself in these writings.  Yes, I am a nerd in so many ways, and I am a pretty serious person (although I have a mighty free laugh for someone who is so serious), but I really don't work or think lofty thoughts every minute of the day.  Well, at least I try not to view everything with a deeply philosophical eye. One of my favorite guilty pleasures is realized most often when I'm travelling. And that pleasure is -- reading mystery novels.  Before I go any further, I should be specific, because I don't read just ANY mystery novels…
Read More

Standing on the edge…

I've been standing on the edge for the past few days...the edge of space between cultures, the edge of spirit between faiths, the edge of history at a time when the whole world changed (a couple of times).  I just returned from 5 days in Istanbul. Oh, yes, I've heard (and made) the jokes about spending Turkey Day in Turkey.  And frankly, I wasn't really certain about why I wanted to go to Istanbul until I returned home (so typical).  But truth be told, no description, no guide book or digital slide show can tell you the power of  the place.  You just have to be there. How could I know…
Read More

I’ve been fed…

(Written while on retreate at Montreat Conference Center, posted later) I'm sitting here in my little wooden chair, in my room at the Assembly Inn at the Montreat Conference Center, having just had a cold shower (hot water is an issue here, but the shower wasn't that bad), with the windows wide open to the cold morning air of the mountains, watching the light creep up over the edge of the baby mountain in front of me.  I'm sitting here in the dark, waiting for day that mostly involves driving and flying, and I'm thinking...I don't care.  I don't care, because I've been fed. And I don't mean the exceptional…
Read More

Burning off the fog…

In a couple of days I'm heading for away for a fall mini-vacation to the mountains.  Fall is my favorite time to vacation and I rarely get to experience its beauties away from the city, because of other demands.  My friend, Leah, is hosting a wonderful series about the glories of the fall season on her blog.   I'm hoping that I'm not too early to get to experience the season's glory on my little mountain trip. It's mountains and leaves and fog that is on my mind, as I think about the past few days of my life. I'll admit it, I had a particularly tough weekend.  Things are clearer…
Read More

Those little choices in life…

There are moments when we face a seemingly little choice, but how we choose can change the whole course of our lives.  Funny thing, we don’t always see those moments when we face them.  Luckily, yesterday, I did. Right now, I’m on the train between Granada and Madrid on the final leg of my journey here in Spain.  In two days, I will finally board the plane and return home. But yesterday, well, yesterday wasn’t such a good day, at least in the beginning.  I was so dreadfully tired, and to tell the truth, I wasn’t totally happy with the way I had sung on the concert the night before. …
Read More

It was not a mistake…

Last year, I declared a moritorium on two things:  taking classes and travelling to sing.  And it served me well...I needed to sit and listen.  From that decision to basically stand still, a lot of good things came...I heard more clearly the call of God in my life, I was baptized, I was licensed, I made a CD, and I calmed down enough that I started to, finally, sing pretty well. And once all that happened, I was feeling pretty good and pretty grounded -- so I immediately went back to taking classes and travelling to sing.  By the time I had finished my class in Music and Social Justice,…
Read More

Goodbye, Seville…Hello Granada

A funny thing happens to me when I'm travelling like I am this summer...I forget that I am travelling.  Yes, I start to think that this is my life (which it is, actually) and I start to think that, well, I live here.  I seek out the signs of settlement -- grocery stores, places to [caption id="attachment_383" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Toro del Orro as seen from the river on my last night"][/caption] pick up the little needs in life like pharmacies, places to wash my clothes and get them cleaned, where to pick up my favorite tea -- places like that. And the same thing that usually happens to me happened…
Read More

Carmen lives…

I love to visit museums when I travel. The ones that I love most, however, are the quirky little museums that are off the beaten path.  I’ve enjoyed many of them in my travels:  the Musée de Dame aux Camelias, somewhere in the Normandy countryside of France (where I saw the personal items of the woman who created such a stir in 19th century Paris, and who comes to us in the opera La Traviata and the classic movie Camille);  the Musée de la Vie Romantique in the 18th Arrondisment in Paris, the Franz Liszt House in Budapest. And today, I added to the list – I went to the…
Read More

Long long ago…and tomorrow

Someone very dear to me (and you know who you are) once said to me:  "I see God in you....in  your constant commitment to learning and questioning and knowing what it is, exactly, that God is telling you.  Keep asking questions.  I think God is in the questions for you--you see Him there."  Well, I have a confession to make:  I really haven't been asking too many questions the last couple of months -- I believe, really, that I was tired.  And, that maybe it was time to just let a year of whirling-dervish question- asking settle. But, as will probably not surprise this friend and many others, as I…
Read More

Living in baptism

I am a very, very fortunate person.  Through some twist of fate, it seems that a trip to the beach has, for the last few years, fallen on the week of my birthday.  So this year, again, I had the chance to celebrate the anniversary of my arrival on this little planet from a beach in Mexico. But this year was not by any imagination business as usual on our few days in the sun. This year, instead of sitting comfortably on my beach palapa bed  in the shade and watching the fun in the waves, I decided make a change.  I actually got in the water. Well, it wasn't really a decision -- not like deciding which book to…
Read More

Guilty pleasures…

I think, perhaps, that I might have given a wrong impression of myself in these writings.  Yes, I am a nerd in so many ways, and I am a pretty serious person (although I have a mighty free laugh for someone who is so serious), but I really don't work or think lofty thoughts every minute of the day.  Well, at least I try not to view everything with a deeply philosophical eye. One of my favorite guilty pleasures is realized most often when I'm travelling. And that pleasure is -- reading mystery novels.  Before I go any further, I should be specific, because I don't read just ANY mystery novels…
Read More

Standing on the edge…

I've been standing on the edge for the past few days...the edge of space between cultures, the edge of spirit between faiths, the edge of history at a time when the whole world changed (a couple of times).  I just returned from 5 days in Istanbul. Oh, yes, I've heard (and made) the jokes about spending Turkey Day in Turkey.  And frankly, I wasn't really certain about why I wanted to go to Istanbul until I returned home (so typical).  But truth be told, no description, no guide book or digital slide show can tell you the power of  the place.  You just have to be there. How could I know…
Read More

I’ve been fed…

(Written while on retreate at Montreat Conference Center, posted later) I'm sitting here in my little wooden chair, in my room at the Assembly Inn at the Montreat Conference Center, having just had a cold shower (hot water is an issue here, but the shower wasn't that bad), with the windows wide open to the cold morning air of the mountains, watching the light creep up over the edge of the baby mountain in front of me.  I'm sitting here in the dark, waiting for day that mostly involves driving and flying, and I'm thinking...I don't care.  I don't care, because I've been fed. And I don't mean the exceptional…
Read More

Burning off the fog…

In a couple of days I'm heading for away for a fall mini-vacation to the mountains.  Fall is my favorite time to vacation and I rarely get to experience its beauties away from the city, because of other demands.  My friend, Leah, is hosting a wonderful series about the glories of the fall season on her blog.   I'm hoping that I'm not too early to get to experience the season's glory on my little mountain trip. It's mountains and leaves and fog that is on my mind, as I think about the past few days of my life. I'll admit it, I had a particularly tough weekend.  Things are clearer…
Read More

Those little choices in life…

There are moments when we face a seemingly little choice, but how we choose can change the whole course of our lives.  Funny thing, we don’t always see those moments when we face them.  Luckily, yesterday, I did. Right now, I’m on the train between Granada and Madrid on the final leg of my journey here in Spain.  In two days, I will finally board the plane and return home. But yesterday, well, yesterday wasn’t such a good day, at least in the beginning.  I was so dreadfully tired, and to tell the truth, I wasn’t totally happy with the way I had sung on the concert the night before. …
Read More

It was not a mistake…

Last year, I declared a moritorium on two things:  taking classes and travelling to sing.  And it served me well...I needed to sit and listen.  From that decision to basically stand still, a lot of good things came...I heard more clearly the call of God in my life, I was baptized, I was licensed, I made a CD, and I calmed down enough that I started to, finally, sing pretty well. And once all that happened, I was feeling pretty good and pretty grounded -- so I immediately went back to taking classes and travelling to sing.  By the time I had finished my class in Music and Social Justice,…
Read More

Goodbye, Seville…Hello Granada

A funny thing happens to me when I'm travelling like I am this summer...I forget that I am travelling.  Yes, I start to think that this is my life (which it is, actually) and I start to think that, well, I live here.  I seek out the signs of settlement -- grocery stores, places to [caption id="attachment_383" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Toro del Orro as seen from the river on my last night"][/caption] pick up the little needs in life like pharmacies, places to wash my clothes and get them cleaned, where to pick up my favorite tea -- places like that. And the same thing that usually happens to me happened…
Read More

Carmen lives…

I love to visit museums when I travel. The ones that I love most, however, are the quirky little museums that are off the beaten path.  I’ve enjoyed many of them in my travels:  the Musée de Dame aux Camelias, somewhere in the Normandy countryside of France (where I saw the personal items of the woman who created such a stir in 19th century Paris, and who comes to us in the opera La Traviata and the classic movie Camille);  the Musée de la Vie Romantique in the 18th Arrondisment in Paris, the Franz Liszt House in Budapest. And today, I added to the list – I went to the…
Read More

Long long ago…and tomorrow

Someone very dear to me (and you know who you are) once said to me:  "I see God in you....in  your constant commitment to learning and questioning and knowing what it is, exactly, that God is telling you.  Keep asking questions.  I think God is in the questions for you--you see Him there."  Well, I have a confession to make:  I really haven't been asking too many questions the last couple of months -- I believe, really, that I was tired.  And, that maybe it was time to just let a year of whirling-dervish question- asking settle. But, as will probably not surprise this friend and many others, as I…
Read More

Living in baptism

I am a very, very fortunate person.  Through some twist of fate, it seems that a trip to the beach has, for the last few years, fallen on the week of my birthday.  So this year, again, I had the chance to celebrate the anniversary of my arrival on this little planet from a beach in Mexico. But this year was not by any imagination business as usual on our few days in the sun. This year, instead of sitting comfortably on my beach palapa bed  in the shade and watching the fun in the waves, I decided make a change.  I actually got in the water. Well, it wasn't really a decision -- not like deciding which book to…
Read More

Guilty pleasures…

I think, perhaps, that I might have given a wrong impression of myself in these writings.  Yes, I am a nerd in so many ways, and I am a pretty serious person (although I have a mighty free laugh for someone who is so serious), but I really don't work or think lofty thoughts every minute of the day.  Well, at least I try not to view everything with a deeply philosophical eye. One of my favorite guilty pleasures is realized most often when I'm travelling. And that pleasure is -- reading mystery novels.  Before I go any further, I should be specific, because I don't read just ANY mystery novels…
Read More

Standing on the edge…

I've been standing on the edge for the past few days...the edge of space between cultures, the edge of spirit between faiths, the edge of history at a time when the whole world changed (a couple of times).  I just returned from 5 days in Istanbul. Oh, yes, I've heard (and made) the jokes about spending Turkey Day in Turkey.  And frankly, I wasn't really certain about why I wanted to go to Istanbul until I returned home (so typical).  But truth be told, no description, no guide book or digital slide show can tell you the power of  the place.  You just have to be there. How could I know…
Read More

I’ve been fed…

(Written while on retreate at Montreat Conference Center, posted later) I'm sitting here in my little wooden chair, in my room at the Assembly Inn at the Montreat Conference Center, having just had a cold shower (hot water is an issue here, but the shower wasn't that bad), with the windows wide open to the cold morning air of the mountains, watching the light creep up over the edge of the baby mountain in front of me.  I'm sitting here in the dark, waiting for day that mostly involves driving and flying, and I'm thinking...I don't care.  I don't care, because I've been fed. And I don't mean the exceptional…
Read More

Burning off the fog…

In a couple of days I'm heading for away for a fall mini-vacation to the mountains.  Fall is my favorite time to vacation and I rarely get to experience its beauties away from the city, because of other demands.  My friend, Leah, is hosting a wonderful series about the glories of the fall season on her blog.   I'm hoping that I'm not too early to get to experience the season's glory on my little mountain trip. It's mountains and leaves and fog that is on my mind, as I think about the past few days of my life. I'll admit it, I had a particularly tough weekend.  Things are clearer…
Read More

Those little choices in life…

There are moments when we face a seemingly little choice, but how we choose can change the whole course of our lives.  Funny thing, we don’t always see those moments when we face them.  Luckily, yesterday, I did. Right now, I’m on the train between Granada and Madrid on the final leg of my journey here in Spain.  In two days, I will finally board the plane and return home. But yesterday, well, yesterday wasn’t such a good day, at least in the beginning.  I was so dreadfully tired, and to tell the truth, I wasn’t totally happy with the way I had sung on the concert the night before. …
Read More

It was not a mistake…

Last year, I declared a moritorium on two things:  taking classes and travelling to sing.  And it served me well...I needed to sit and listen.  From that decision to basically stand still, a lot of good things came...I heard more clearly the call of God in my life, I was baptized, I was licensed, I made a CD, and I calmed down enough that I started to, finally, sing pretty well. And once all that happened, I was feeling pretty good and pretty grounded -- so I immediately went back to taking classes and travelling to sing.  By the time I had finished my class in Music and Social Justice,…
Read More

Goodbye, Seville…Hello Granada

A funny thing happens to me when I'm travelling like I am this summer...I forget that I am travelling.  Yes, I start to think that this is my life (which it is, actually) and I start to think that, well, I live here.  I seek out the signs of settlement -- grocery stores, places to [caption id="attachment_383" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Toro del Orro as seen from the river on my last night"][/caption] pick up the little needs in life like pharmacies, places to wash my clothes and get them cleaned, where to pick up my favorite tea -- places like that. And the same thing that usually happens to me happened…
Read More

Carmen lives…

I love to visit museums when I travel. The ones that I love most, however, are the quirky little museums that are off the beaten path.  I’ve enjoyed many of them in my travels:  the Musée de Dame aux Camelias, somewhere in the Normandy countryside of France (where I saw the personal items of the woman who created such a stir in 19th century Paris, and who comes to us in the opera La Traviata and the classic movie Camille);  the Musée de la Vie Romantique in the 18th Arrondisment in Paris, the Franz Liszt House in Budapest. And today, I added to the list – I went to the…
Read More

Long long ago…and tomorrow

Someone very dear to me (and you know who you are) once said to me:  "I see God in you....in  your constant commitment to learning and questioning and knowing what it is, exactly, that God is telling you.  Keep asking questions.  I think God is in the questions for you--you see Him there."  Well, I have a confession to make:  I really haven't been asking too many questions the last couple of months -- I believe, really, that I was tired.  And, that maybe it was time to just let a year of whirling-dervish question- asking settle. But, as will probably not surprise this friend and many others, as I…
Read More

Living in baptism

I am a very, very fortunate person.  Through some twist of fate, it seems that a trip to the beach has, for the last few years, fallen on the week of my birthday.  So this year, again, I had the chance to celebrate the anniversary of my arrival on this little planet from a beach in Mexico. But this year was not by any imagination business as usual on our few days in the sun. This year, instead of sitting comfortably on my beach palapa bed  in the shade and watching the fun in the waves, I decided make a change.  I actually got in the water. Well, it wasn't really a decision -- not like deciding which book to…
Read More

Guilty pleasures…

I think, perhaps, that I might have given a wrong impression of myself in these writings.  Yes, I am a nerd in so many ways, and I am a pretty serious person (although I have a mighty free laugh for someone who is so serious), but I really don't work or think lofty thoughts every minute of the day.  Well, at least I try not to view everything with a deeply philosophical eye. One of my favorite guilty pleasures is realized most often when I'm travelling. And that pleasure is -- reading mystery novels.  Before I go any further, I should be specific, because I don't read just ANY mystery novels…
Read More

Standing on the edge…

I've been standing on the edge for the past few days...the edge of space between cultures, the edge of spirit between faiths, the edge of history at a time when the whole world changed (a couple of times).  I just returned from 5 days in Istanbul. Oh, yes, I've heard (and made) the jokes about spending Turkey Day in Turkey.  And frankly, I wasn't really certain about why I wanted to go to Istanbul until I returned home (so typical).  But truth be told, no description, no guide book or digital slide show can tell you the power of  the place.  You just have to be there. How could I know…
Read More

I’ve been fed…

(Written while on retreate at Montreat Conference Center, posted later) I'm sitting here in my little wooden chair, in my room at the Assembly Inn at the Montreat Conference Center, having just had a cold shower (hot water is an issue here, but the shower wasn't that bad), with the windows wide open to the cold morning air of the mountains, watching the light creep up over the edge of the baby mountain in front of me.  I'm sitting here in the dark, waiting for day that mostly involves driving and flying, and I'm thinking...I don't care.  I don't care, because I've been fed. And I don't mean the exceptional…
Read More

Burning off the fog…

In a couple of days I'm heading for away for a fall mini-vacation to the mountains.  Fall is my favorite time to vacation and I rarely get to experience its beauties away from the city, because of other demands.  My friend, Leah, is hosting a wonderful series about the glories of the fall season on her blog.   I'm hoping that I'm not too early to get to experience the season's glory on my little mountain trip. It's mountains and leaves and fog that is on my mind, as I think about the past few days of my life. I'll admit it, I had a particularly tough weekend.  Things are clearer…
Read More

Those little choices in life…

There are moments when we face a seemingly little choice, but how we choose can change the whole course of our lives.  Funny thing, we don’t always see those moments when we face them.  Luckily, yesterday, I did. Right now, I’m on the train between Granada and Madrid on the final leg of my journey here in Spain.  In two days, I will finally board the plane and return home. But yesterday, well, yesterday wasn’t such a good day, at least in the beginning.  I was so dreadfully tired, and to tell the truth, I wasn’t totally happy with the way I had sung on the concert the night before. …
Read More

It was not a mistake…

Last year, I declared a moritorium on two things:  taking classes and travelling to sing.  And it served me well...I needed to sit and listen.  From that decision to basically stand still, a lot of good things came...I heard more clearly the call of God in my life, I was baptized, I was licensed, I made a CD, and I calmed down enough that I started to, finally, sing pretty well. And once all that happened, I was feeling pretty good and pretty grounded -- so I immediately went back to taking classes and travelling to sing.  By the time I had finished my class in Music and Social Justice,…
Read More

Goodbye, Seville…Hello Granada

A funny thing happens to me when I'm travelling like I am this summer...I forget that I am travelling.  Yes, I start to think that this is my life (which it is, actually) and I start to think that, well, I live here.  I seek out the signs of settlement -- grocery stores, places to [caption id="attachment_383" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Toro del Orro as seen from the river on my last night"][/caption] pick up the little needs in life like pharmacies, places to wash my clothes and get them cleaned, where to pick up my favorite tea -- places like that. And the same thing that usually happens to me happened…
Read More

Carmen lives…

I love to visit museums when I travel. The ones that I love most, however, are the quirky little museums that are off the beaten path.  I’ve enjoyed many of them in my travels:  the Musée de Dame aux Camelias, somewhere in the Normandy countryside of France (where I saw the personal items of the woman who created such a stir in 19th century Paris, and who comes to us in the opera La Traviata and the classic movie Camille);  the Musée de la Vie Romantique in the 18th Arrondisment in Paris, the Franz Liszt House in Budapest. And today, I added to the list – I went to the…
Read More