Castles, Kings, Popes, and Dictators
Before I get going, my essays from Poland were written while on a few hours of sleep, a five hour time difference, and tired thumbs on my Android phone. Yes I’ve seen the typos glaring back at me like a snake in our henhouse, daring me to get involved, and I haven’t had the patience […]
Budmo!
“John!” I’d just walked into the WCK kitchen and a vaguely familiar voice called out to me. I turned to my left and in the far corner was New Orleans native and fellow chef David Guas. He owns Bayou Bakery in Washington DC and he’s a good guy. I hadn’t seen him in four or […]
Dances with Onions
I thought I understood the politics of this war, until I chopped onions with our ambassador to Finland. I thought I spoke decent Spanish, until I worked next to an attorney from Barcelona. I thought I understood hospitality, until I served customers that carried their lives, their culture, their country in one rolling suitcase and […]
The Tesco
Sam’s Club, Super Target, Tesco. They’re all the same. The Tesco in Medyka was empty, maybe it was being refurbished or maybe it would move. It’s not important. This Tesco is the first Polish stop for many Ukranians. It’s all tents at the border crossing, a mile away at Tesco there’s cots, a roof, proper […]
Sidewalk to Poland
Border crossings, such as the one on the Ukranian border at Mydeka, Poland, aren’t designed for a mass exodus. This one is a sidewalk, no wider than one found on yours, or my Main Street. This one flows down the gentle slope of Ukranian earth, through the gates then climbs up thirty feet or so […]
Yesterday’s Apples
The apples arrived in 18 wheelers and were unloaded with forklifts. Thousands of pounds of apples. When I arrived I asked how I could help. “Chef that group is cutting yesterday’s apples for applesauce. We bring it to the border and it’s a welcome treat for the Ukranian kids. Would you mind chopping apples?” “Make […]
“Only James Bond gets to Save the World”
That’s what my dad said to me, more than once. He usually responded with that after I complained about some rather large issue such as the war in Vietnam, or the condition of the roads in south Louisiana. And he always followed that up with “but you can save a small part of it.” Meaning […]
Bones of Winter
Skeletons of JanuaryOnce so aliveGreen hands and fingers danced against our blue skyMuscular legs beneath uplifted armsShade and sanctuary to the young and old of the airWrens, cardinals, jays, and finchDays of sunshine, ample blue skyNaked toes on soft green carpetMemories buried under winter’s white veilDistant thoughts hiding beneath these bare January bonesArms, hands, fingers […]
Homesick
Yesterday’s heavy rain has moved on and this morning cold air has taken its place. The rolling green hills of Ohio reach out to the tree line and the tallest of those trees scrape the cloud bottoms. Heavy grey clouds, laden with the last few drops of summer, racing to the northwest. In the east […]
We pronounce it “Lah Plahs.”
LaPlace sits about 30 miles west of New Orleans. Our southern border is dictated by the curves of the Mississippi River, our northern border is the swampy, tattered edges of Lakes Ponchartrain and Maurepas. Airline Highway, once the main thoroughfare between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, intersects LaPlace like a hunter’s arrow through a deer. […]