Posts Tagged: history

Lost in Grace

Imagine yourself far away from home, across the ocean far, lost in an unexplored land, surrounded by animals you’ve never seen or could imagine (and they’re big, like bison big), and following a guide your gut tells you not to trust. This is exactly what happened in 1541 to the company on Vasquez de Coronado’s exploration of the… Read more »

The Essential Milkweed

Monarch butterflies (not to be confused with Catholic Monarchs, such as Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, who sponsored the exploration of the New World by Christopher Columbus) require milkweed plants to survive. In fact, Monarch caterpillars eat only milkweed. But the breakfast table can easily become the lunch and dinner counter too. Each… Read more »

Lake Mead Shows Its Spirit

St. Thomas, Nevada The little drowned town is showing its bones. Sunbleached stairwells leading to nothing, a school foundation without the school… What happened here? Early Mormon settlers, thinking they were in Utah, farmed the St. Thomas area, a rich land watered by the Muddy River, which flowed into the Virgin River near its confluence… Read more »

Garter Snakes in My Garden

Every Time I pull weeds, a little snake slithers by, but I don’t think it’s the same snake! So I called Animal Movers to help with a possible infestation. The person who came to my rescue, hereafter dubbed “Hunter,” arrived with loads of information. First thing I learned is that garter snakes are so named because they… Read more »

The Versatile Century Plant

Not long ago, all I knew of the agave plant was the printed picture on bottles of tequila. We’ve had a few of those in my kitchen, and the subtleties of varieties is akin to appreciating the nuanced differences in a bottle of wine. I also believed the tale that the Century Plant was so named… Read more »

Father Brown’s Cross, Juneau, AK

Recently I spent a spectacular week in Alaska while learning story skills from the brilliant founders of Catharsis (StoryCatharsis.com). The classes were amazing. The weather was not what I had expected. Isn’t Alaska supposed to be cold? I baked in flannels and sweatshirts because of the 80° heat. But the views were clear, as you can see from the two posted… Read more »

Consecrated Virgins in Vogue

Vogue. Not the magazine, but vogue as in something popular, and in this case … hidden. Ancient, yet new. Once upon a time, a few hundred centuries ago, women who did not want or could not join a Roman Catholic religious order (think nun) had another option. They could become consecrated virgins. I’ll explain in… Read more »

The Prince of Letters

What do William Faulkner and Don Quixote have in common? Let’s just say it is something “… as secret as the grave” (Book IV, Chapter 62) now come to light. Spain’s master of the modern novel, Miguel de Cervantes was one of Faulkner’s favorite authors; apparently true since he claimed to have read The Ingenious Gentleman Don… Read more »

Dragon Fruit, Better than Gold?

As eyewitness accounts go, Pedro de Castañeda’s Narrative of the Coronado Expedition is as fresh as if the search for gold was only yesterday. Too bad they didn’t find gold, yet they did find other treasures — even if they were the edible kind. Castañeda recounts events in the Valley of Suya (exact location unknown,… Read more »

Praying for Springtime

Yesterday afternoon I received a wonderful gift: in my courtyard came a robin … in February! Although it is still winter, the robin’s song gave me hope for longer days, warmer weather, budding trees, and the sweet smell of spring. As I listened to the lilt, I was reminded of another springtime when I traveled… Read more »