What did Oswald Chambers propose? And why did Biddy accept?
On Being a Revolutionary’s Daughter
On this fourth of July, I’m thinking about what it means to be a revolutionary’s daughter. My own father was a brilliant mercurial man, who served as a naval officer but was not revolutionary. Our forefathers, however, were a different story. In writing my family history (five years of research. You can find Pioneer Stock in the Library of…
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Traveler’s Tales: The Great Wall of China
In May 2008, my businessman brother had an extra seat on a trip to China. He invited me to join him and on an incredibly clear day, we visited the Great Wall of China. We’d flown up that morning from Shanghai, and he had an expatriate friend celebrating his children’s birthday at a rustic restaurant far out in the countryside….
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Archduke Franz Ferdinand and You
100 years ago on June 28 Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was murdered in Sarajevo, launching into motion events that led to The Great War. Everything about our modern world can, perhaps, be tied back to the assassination of both Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his beloved morganic wife Sophia. Did it have to happen? Does it matter? It happened, the Great…
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Pruning Words, Life & Rewriting Joys
Pruning words from my most recent text consumes a lot of time. It’s made me consider how often I, among others, use too many words–whether in writing or speaking. My husband occasionally complains about my compulsion to explain everything. “It’s not enough you tell the children to do something, you then go on and on and on about why they…
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Genocide and a Summer’s Day
Genocide is such an odd subject for a discussion between friends. One summer, I stopped in to visit my friend Jane for a lovely afternoon in her charming screened-in Connecticut porch. We spent the whole afternoon talking about genocide. That had not been the plan when I arranged to visit, but when I walked into the porch, I stopped beside…
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