5 October 2018 A bumpy road north brings us to Shalupangkha, the monastic school where Pasa’s Uncle Choden has been the head monk for the last five years. Upon arrival, the monks share tea for special guests which include: saffron rice with raisins, butter tea, rice puff cakes, and flower-shaped cookies. There to make a …
A little spice goes a long way
The farmer’s market is alight with colorful produce hidden under gray awnings that Claudia and I must be mindful. At 5’ 9”, we have almost 4” on most Bhutanese we have met or seen. We spy a gray kitten darting between the wood cabinets, as dogs lay about in the streets and the random cow …
remembering mama
I sometimes wonder how my mom would have changed if she had the time to age. I'd like to believe it would have been a graceful process, one that involved my dad, me and Rich, and getting to know her grandkids. It's one of life's greatest mysteries when someone is taken so much younger then …
The Greatest Life is the One You Choose to Live
Anniversaries are my totems. Although they are not animate objects or things, they still breathe. With each year that passes, they remind me to come alive. My parents were late bloomers: marrying and starting a family at an older age way before it was fashionable. I never had the opportunity to dig deep into their …
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sabers and memory
Light sabers. For a show at the arena. "Only ten dollas," the barker cries. Lightweight cardboard sabers in shades of pastel blue. No blinking LED lights as far as I can see. I'm hopeful the salesman is also hocking imagination, too. Hordes of children under the age of eight, a flock of superheroes wearing expressions …
Your only challenge is to go in with an open mind
The radiating heat of the desert sun feels amazing on your skin until it doesn't. A weathered cotton hat became my holy grail against the playa elements, the perfect complement to a creative armor of layered clothing and accessories. And by the end of my first Burn experience, I felt as spirited as Joan Wilder in the …
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the bittersweet truth of my sorrow
i almost forgot. but then, on the way home from a late yoga class, crossing the street admiring the barren trees casting shadows on the sidewalk everything flooded back. i remembered it was this night. i wish i could tell my friends, those who are just now experiencing the loss of a parent that every year …
8 things you might not know
The hardest substance I've ever consumed was absinthe. On a blind date that wasn't going so well, I ended up crashing the studio party for Australia and met Hugh Jackman. I'm deathly afraid of rollercoasters, especially the ones that go upside down. I have visited ground zero of four active volcanoes (and counting). Until the …
some old, some new traditions
2017 marks a year of change, new traditions for Christmas. I spend the days after the longest head cold ever, preparing Sicilian sweets, an assortment of cookies, and freshly, baked bread. On Christmas Eve, after dinner with new friends, I add an old tradition started with my Dad. We would stay up to watch It's …
The smell of Christmas is in the air
It was a big three-story house with a wrap-around porch. The crisp, breeze refreshing in the summer, was drafty and damp in winter. And luckily for us, there was a stone fireplace in the living room trimmed in evergreen pines and holly. Some of my favorite Christmas memories were with my mom and dad at …
