Editor’s Page By Alejandro Grattan-Dominguez For more editorials, visit: http://thedarksideofthedream.com A CHRISTMAS THOUGHT: The Later Years —Delight Or Depression? Your choice, but before you decide, consider this: there are certain parts of the brain that actually keep developing as we grow older—particularly if we give them plenty of exercise. Moreover, though we tend …
SHEPHERDS & WISE MEN —Ancient Truths and Puzzles Underlie Popular Perceptions of the Christmas Story By Dr. Lorin Swinehart For Christians, Christmas is about the birth of the Christ Child, the descent of the Divine into the field of time. Only two of the four Gospel authors, Luke, a physician and companion to Paul, and …
Best Letter From Camp Ever! Courtesy of Art Hess Dear Mom! Our Scoutmaster told us to write to our parents in case you saw the flood on TV and got worried. We are okay. Only one of our tents and 2 sleeping bags got washed away. Luckily, none of us got drowned because …
Imprints By Antonio Ramblés antonio.rambles@yahoo.com Reims and champagne A celebrated cathedral dating from the High Middle Ages… caves in which acres of champagne bottles ripen… and miles of French countryside laced with vineyards make a day trip to Reims a great change of pace and a feast for the senses. Ninety miles northeast …
Uncommon Common Sense By Bill Frayer billfrayer@gmail.com The Individuation of Poverty There is considerable talk these days about the growing income inequality in the world, particularly in the United States. The problem with this issue, for many people, especially those who are living in a comfortable retirement or who have decent jobs, is that …
Living Large In Limbo By Kelly Hayes-Raitt When Girl Beats Boy The first time I was hit by a man, I’d hit first. We were standing in his kitchen, in a heated argument and he said something rude. Tongue-tied, I responded the way I’d seen women from Scarlett O’Hara to Cher in Moonstruck (“snap out of …
The Mirasol Redemption A Novel by Antonio Ramblés Reviewed by Margaret Van Every If you hear the word Weatherman and think first of the turbulent 60s and 70s, then you will value this novel, which is not so much about the storm when it raged, but the aftermath and how it drastically shaped …
A Christmas Tree In The Desert By Kathy Koches It was cold; freezing rain, snow, black ice. A typical Pacific Northwest winter, and I wanted to escape. Back then we were D.I.N.K.S. (double income-no kids) and were able to take off on a moment’s notice. “Let’s go find some sun,” my husband said …
Front Row Center By Michael Warren Stepping Out By Richard Harris Directed by Ann Swiston Stepping Out was produced in 1984 in the West End, London, where it received the Evening Standard Comedy of the Year Award. Actually I find that strange, because the play is entertaining but it’s not really a comedy. …
Chapultepec By Norman Zollinger Book Review by Alice Hathaway My vague knowledge of Mexican history in the time of Maximilian has been greatly improved by reading Chapultepec, a recently published historical novel that puts fictional characters in the right place at the right time to interact with real people during critical events. What a …
