US election 2024

US election 2024

Sunday, 29 September, 2024. In France, we’re good.  My office is wondrous save that I must be disciplined not to stare out onto the horse pastures. and mist-draped hills. Financial planning, luck, and US citizenship have provided security and advantage. In this...
Time of peace, Time of troubles

Time of peace, Time of troubles

Мирное время, но Смутное время, какое же? [Time of peace….time of troubles] Patrice and I are living a near idyllic life in France. However, in late of this my seventh decade, I am concerned .  Is much that I value in my western world is under threat or is it my...
The Netherlands, 2-12 February 2024

The Netherlands, 2-12 February 2024

 Dutch friends, Dick S. and Sandra D., offered Patrice and me their country house in Middelharnis. It was a ‘two birds with one stone’ opportunity. We had finished our move from the apartment in Semur-en-Auxios to the farmhouse in Chevigny thus we could count as a...
War in Ukraine observed from United Kingdom

War in Ukraine observed from United Kingdom

Christmas Morning with grandchildren (Horsmonden, United Kingdom) Patrice and I are spending Christmas with Michelle and Nigel in Horsmonden, UK. We had met them a week ago in Calais to drive to Bruges, Belgium, for the Christmas Market, then onto England to spend the...
Kippenheim, Germany

Kippenheim, Germany

For these past  two + years Patrice and I became acquainted, grace a covid,  with the medieval trails and French citizens in Semur-en-Auxios, France.  No complaints.  The Burgundian landscape is rolling and beautiful, its farmers are meticulous...
Patrice’s Uncle Kurt & The Holocaust

Patrice’s Uncle Kurt & The Holocaust

On 16-17 October, The United States Holocaust Museum sponsored Patrice’s 89-year-old Uncle Kurt Maier, Emeritus Librarian, Library of Congress (German collection), lectures at Chicago’s Harold Washington Library. Kurt, a Holocaust survivor with a wicked...