Curiosity, Travel and Change
I don’t usually think “walkable downtown” when contemplating Los Angeles. But recently I explored downtown LA—by foot and by bike—and found the bones of the city that existed before Los Angeles became synonymous with freeways. From my hotel on South Grand Avenue, I walked past gems of the 1920’s and 30’s in neighborhoods bearing names …
January 7-9. I spent my last weekend in India near the Munnar hill station in the Western Gats of Kerala. We were grateful for the calm and welcoming presence of our hosts at @mistletoehomestay. View from our room at Mistletoe Homestay Ayurvedic tourism is very big in this part of India. All along the road …
Continue reading "Munnar Hill Station and Final Thoughts: India Travels Part 5"
January 3, 2023: And we’re off! Day 1 of a four-day bike ride through Kerala with my sister @naomicb98 . This part of South India is lush, tropical, and steamy. It is, as the Kerala tourism bureau says, “God’s Own Country”. Perhaps it is because every mile or so there is a Hindu temple or …
Continue reading "Cycling Through Kerala: India Travels Part 4"
January 1, 2023: Arrived in Kochi (Cochin), located on the far southwestern tip of India, from Delhi on New Years Eve. But the real party in Kochi seemed to be on New Years Day, when the streets were filled with costumed and bewigged people atop floats that would parade through the city. Women of all …
Continue reading "Kochi, Kerala and an Ancient Jewish Community: India Travels Part 3"
December 28, 2022: I don’t often post about hotels, but sometimes they are so unique and memorable, I must send praise. Fort Bishangargh, an 18th century Shahpura fort from days when this region was peopled with warring kingdoms, has been renovated into an elegant hotel, with rooms carved out of the granite. From above you …
Continue reading "Jaipur by Way of Bishangarh: India Travels Part 2"
Some people test their mettle camping our or climbing a mountain. My latest personal challenge was India. Three days wandering around Delhi, three in and around Jaipur, and then nine days in Kerala, the lush tropical state at the southwest tip of India. A month after returning and I am still processing what I saw …
Continue reading "Navigating Delhi: My India Travels Part 1"
What could be more picturesque than those lavender fields and bastides—the medieval fortified villages hugging hilltops— of Provence? Cezanne and Van Gogh marveled at the luminous light and the ever-changing purples, vermillion, and ochres. Provence is the stuff of travelers' dreams, of memoirs of rejuvenation and inspiration. But on a recent trip through the south …
Judy Brown’s red Subaru Outback has a simple vanity plate. It says “Garnets”. At the end of her road is her sign: “J+J Brown, Garnet Studio”. Garnet jewelry has been a thread through her rich life. Her garnet jewelry is ubiquitous in the Adirondacks, in every gift shop from Glens Falls to the Champlain Valley. …
Continue reading "Garnets on the Soles of My Shoes: Adirondack Rubies"
A tiny work at the entrance to Lisa Collado’s exhibit greets visitors with: reaching out to others through collage. As I peered, mesmerized, at Lisa Collado’s work on display at Tannery Pond Community Center —this series of frenetic, almost dizzying, brilliantly colored collages—I could feel Lisa Collado reaching out to me, sometimes whispering, sometimes screaming …
Continue reading "Reaching out to Others Through Collage: Excavations and Layers of Lisa Collado"
A weaver in Teotitlan del Valle gives thanks before beginning work I am in awe of people who can make something out of nothing—salvagers and re-purposers and cultivators, dumpster divers and weavers, farmers coaxing food from the harshest earth, entrepreneurs finding possibility in a world of scarcity. On my recent trip to Mexico I saw …
