Selfies

Mother and I took a selfie during my visit last week. First, I updated her laptop’s operating system while we went to the dining room for lunch. Then I installed her printer software, held my iphone at arm’s length, took a picture of the two of us, emailed it to...

What do you Worship?

…quite often people confuse their fictional heroes with God. As they confuse their human lovers. Or themselves. It is a great hindrance to a happy life.– Jane Gardam, Crusoe’s Daughter While reading Adam Gopnik’s review of recent books about atheism – see “Bigger Than...

Vanaprastha

It occurred to me the other day that I hadn’t explained why my husband and I chose the name Vanaprastha for our mountain house. Traditional Hindus divide life into four stages called Ashrama. The Student (brahmacari): one is chaste and obedient to teachers The...

Groundhog Day

February 2, 2014 marks Super Bowl XLVIII, the death of 46-year-old actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, and the day Punxsutawney Phil emerges to predict a sooner or later arrival of spring, three seemingly unrelated events with themes echoing in the 1993 movie Groundhog Day....