Elephants Both In And Out Of The Room
If I had it to do all over again, I would devote myself to the study of the elephant. Sadly, there is only so much one can cram into the too few years of a lifetime, and so I consider myself lucky to have been able to spend some time with them. Elephants are impressive creatures with a fascinating culture. Last year when my husband I spent 12 days in the bush on a trip to Africa, I noticed that no matter how many animals we were seeing, the elephants never lost their allure. Always led by a matriarch, the herd does not tolerate incest. If a bull gets out of hand and tries to mate within the family, he is ousted and becomes a rogue, but the females never leave their herd. They are devoted to one another and have been known to return to the site of the death of a...
Mad Dogs and Englishmen… or Wild Dogs and Americans
Reflections on Them vs. Us As some of my readers might have noticed, I am extremely fond of animals, animal images and animal metaphors. Some say that animals differ from humans in that they don’t possess souls. I challenge anyone to live with critters for a bit and to uphold that theory. All the animals who’ve chosen to live with me (and it has been their choice) most definitely have souls, deeper souls than many of the Homo sapiens I’ve known. Last fall, my husband and I took a trip to South Africa and Zimbabwe. One of the highlights was an up-close sighting of a pack of wild dogs. You can see just how close we were to them by the outline of the vehicle in the photo. These are a seriously endangered species. Our tracker had only seen them twice in ten years....
Watch the Dung Beetle
Why I keep rolling forward to a sweet new career I am haunted by dreams of going back to college, at my current age, no less, and with a full head of gray hair. I am living with an assortment of strange young people in dorms or apartments with filthy kitchens, sinks piled with dirty dishes, and no drawers or closet space. The only restaurant in any of the many hallucinatory towns I come upon in sleep has thin soup, mashed something or other and saltine crackers. There is only one book for four classes or four books for one class, but in none of these towns does the college bookstore have any of the texts I need. I am never registered for the semester until I’ve missed too many classes to obtain credit for attending. I show up anyway, once I search forever to find...
What Does Survive? The Roar of the Lion
An evening with a journalist-in-exile at the Raindrop Turkish House On March 4, 2016, Abdülhamit Bilici lost his position of 25 years as Editor in Chief of Zaman, the largest newspaper in Turkey. Ten days later, with an overnight bag in hand and a passport that might just as easily have been already revoked, he boarded a plane out of Istanbul, knowing full well he might not ever be able to return. On March 3, 2017, I had the flu and a fever of 101. I also had tickets to a lecture at the Raindrop Turkish House in Albuquerque. The presenter I wanted to hear was a journalist in exile from Turkey. His name was Abdülhamit Bilici. And so at 4 p.m., against all odds and with complete disregard for the health and safety of others, I hoisted myself out of bed and...
What Does Survive?
Back in Placitas and Planning My Writing Life From the author of What Survives All my life (since the age of five) I dreamed of becoming two things: one, a psychoanalyst and two, a writer. These desires survived. It is hard for me to believe that I have been fortunate enough to achieve both, but at the end of July of this year, I will close my private practice and begin my writing life. I thought this shift in my time here on earth might be interesting to write about and read about, especially in these tough times for both retirement and the arts. My vision of this transition may prove to be somewhat different from the realities I might envision. Scenario I: I rise at dawn and write for several hours; then I greet my husband in the kitchen for breakfast. After an...
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