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The Magic of Millay

The Magic of Millay

A year ago, I posted a short piece “The Ghost of Edna St. Vincent Millay” in honor of Millay's 130th birthday. In it I described the extraordinary influence she and her poetry had on my young self. What I didn’t mention was the influence she has continued to have...

Cegonha Branca

Cegonha Branca

As my husband Terry knows well, I have a tendency to live in my head and frequently fail to notice what’s in front of me. Had it not been for Terry calling attention to the nests high above the highway while driving back from a visit to the west coast of Portugal last...

Azulejos

Azulejos

Azulejo is a lovely Portuguese word that rolls off the tongue in a way that its English translation "tile" just doesn’t. But in Portugal the azulejo is much more than a tile, it is iconic of Portuguese culture. For centuries, azulejos have embellished  Portuguese...

Why I Blog

Why I Blog

Blogging is such a 21st Century thing to do, but despite my 20th century reservations, a while ago I took the advice of my publisher and some of my younger friends and gave it a try. To be honest, though, I was truly convinced to blog only after I considered all the...

The Ghost of Edna St. Vincent Millay

The Ghost of Edna St. Vincent Millay

One hundred and thirty years ago today Edna St. Vincent Millay – a remarkable, sometimes scandalous, and always brilliant poet, was born in Rockland, Maine.  Twenty-five years later she moved to Greenwich Village, where she and my grandfather Floyd Dell – a...

Thank You Main Street Books!

Thank You Main Street Books!

For some time now, I’ve tried to write an “Ode to Main Street Books”. Alas, I’m not a poet and writing an ode is quite beyond me. So, I’ll post this blog instead! It’s hard to exaggerate how happy it makes me to walk into the bookstore on Main Street in Frostburg and...

The Beauty of the Douro

The Beauty of the Douro

Two weeks ago, my husband Terry and I got in our car and traveled five hours northwest from our village in the Alentejo  to the Douro Valley, one of the oldest wine regions in the world. After ten months in lock down last year, the freedom to travel around...

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