I’m hiding out in the 17th Century until news in the 21st Century improves. The Stephen Hopkins Family make a marvelous distraction. They traveled to Plymouth, MA on the Mayflower in 1620. Stephen and Elizabeth are one of the more famous and fascinating couples among the eighteen couples aboard. On this trip to North American Stephen traveled with his second wife, Elizabeth Fisher Hopkins, and three children. Elizabeth was pregnant with a fourth child when they […]
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Pilgrim Governor John Carver
This blog about Pilgrim Governor John Carver is an edited version of an article I first published three years ago. I’m running a summer special of a few of my favorite old posts because 1) I’m taking some time away from my computer to vacation; 2) I am so very weary of what has been going on in the news lately that I want to hide in the 1600s; and 3) I’ve come up with […]
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Welcoming the Stranger
We are a nation of strangers. Welcoming the stranger when we’ve needed them to farm our fields, lay our railroads, or build our skyscrapers has always been part of our country’s philosophy. On Monday many of us will again be waving flags, grilling burgers and hotdogs, and watching fireworks to celebrate our independence. In the 1600 and 1700s European countries, especially England launched hundreds of ships full of immigrants who eventually established what became the […]
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Life Does Go On – June Newsletter 2022
Oh, but now old friends they’re acting strange And they shake their heads and they tell me that I’ve changed Well something’s lost, but something’s gained In living every day. (Both Sides Now, Lyrics by Joni Mitchel ©Crazy Crow Music) Dear Friend – For reasons I cannot explain, I got this song by Joni Mitchel stuck in my head as I walked my laps in the pool this morning. Life can seem overwhelming at times. Politicians who try to do right […]
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Making the Right Move
Summer is prime time for moving. Making the right move for yourself, for your family, or for your career, is sometimes learned in retrospect when we make the wrong move first. Moving is stressful. It ranks right up there with death, divorce, and catastrophic illness as one of the major life stressors. When my family moved to Houston in August 1982, it was our fourth move in five years. I enrolled our daughters in their […]
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