A gypsy scribbler's musings & ruminations
Where there is thankfulness, there is no room for anger or bitterness or confusion. It is the surest remedy against disappointment or disillusion; it calms the heart in the midst of pain; it clears mind fogged in by self-pity. Thankfulness forces us to look beyond what is wrong and discover what is right. There are... Continue Reading →
I have always loved the comic Asterix and Obelix. Two independent, funny-looking characters defying entire armies with a grin and then stopping to smell the flowers on their way home - what's not to love? One of my favorite strips is from The Twelve Tasks of Hercules. "The place that sends you mad" is the epicenter of... Continue Reading →
After wrapping up my time in Kenya, and while visiting family in the US, different pieces of my world collided in such a way so as to precipitate an unexpected trip to the Congo. Like the butterfly wings that start a monsoon: a chain reaction of tiny events happened at just the right time and... Continue Reading →
The apartment was empty, all the boxes safely stacked in storage, the odds-and-ends temporarily stashed in Jeannine's guest room, and the travel bags packed. Summer had come! The first six weeks (half of June and all of July) flew by in a refreshing whirl of family and friends. I hopped across the US from couch... Continue Reading →
As far as I can tell, there are three kinds of endings that mark the points along this curvy road of life. First there is the quietly-disappear-don't-realize-it's-never-coming-back kind of ending where life goes on as normal and the possibility of the thing that just ended still exists in your mind. You don't think to say... Continue Reading →
The new year blew in with rapid-fire change, and it was March before I was home long enough to absorb it all. Within two weeks of getting back from New Zealand, I headed to Zimbabwe for a music festival with four of my band students. When we got back from Harare, we had a day... Continue Reading →
RECON CAMPING November 23, 2013 We had a long-weekend in November - a nod to Thanksgiving but on the wrong weekend entirely, so not much use in terms of celebrating with Americans. A couple of of friends and I decided to do a sort of "recon" camping trip in the Ngarandare conservancy, north of Mt... Continue Reading →
Though I have not written much since last Fall, the density of new and interesting experiences in the last six months has been remarkable. Since September, I have not had more than three to four weeks at home before the next trip or adventure, and that's not counting the two car accidents. The accidents are... Continue Reading →
* The title of this post is taken from the children's book "Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day" by J. Viorst. The school "Intercultural Trips" have been a highlight each year I've been here. This year I signed up for a trip in which kids would learn mountain biking skills. This included: studying... Continue Reading →
Summer for me ended with the unique and powerful experience of touring the Northeast-Midwest US with the Nairobi Chamber Chorus. Before I get into the experience itself, a bit of background: NCC is an auditioned, mostly a cappella choir that offers an advanced ensemble experience to young(ish) musicians in Nairobi. The average age is about... Continue Reading →
Of Wonders & Wanders 
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