In the world, 75 countries drive on the left and 165 on the right. A high number of countries that were in the former British Empire make up those 75, with many exceptions like the United States, Canada and Belize, to name a few. All Spanish speaking countries in the world drive on the right. […]
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Don’t stand so close to me… Personal space differs from country to country. In the United States we tend to prefer a large amount of space between us and strangers. In general the distance is an arm’s length or more (see photo of grocery shoppers in New York). When we lived in Chile, we were […]
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Happy Solstice Everyone! This week I wish our friends in South America and throughout the southern hemisphere a happy summer solstice! May you enjoy your days when the sun is high in the sky. Happy Winter Solstice to our friends who live above the equator as we do here in Madison, Wisconsin. May you enjoy […]
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What does December bring to mind? Snow drifts? Elves? Menorahs? Holiday lights? Most likely winter. Could summer arrive in December? As someone who grew up at 45ºN latitude, the question seems absurd. Although, later in Texas I experienced Decembers that were not very cold, they were still called winter. In Arizona and New Mexico, people […]
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I began writing poems when I was in elementary school. After the funeral of my great grandmother when I was 9, I wrote: Ashes to ashes dust to dust. Die we don’t want to but die we must. As a high school senior, I was fortunate to study with an English teacher who required we […]
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On the plane to Buenos Aires in 2002, I read the Chilean newspaper. The tumult of protests in Argentina’s capital was front page news. I struggled to swallow. How would I tell Evan we were headed for trouble? I bit my lip, exhaled, then touched his shoulder saying, “Honey, I don’t know how to tell […]
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