Nakka, the Greenlandic Sled Dog

Posted on August 24, 2015 by McPhedran

Nakka is a full-on Greenlandic sled dog that can go for fifteen hours straight, no food or water, through ice and snow.I realized that it might have been a mistake to bring him to New York when, on my first day at a Manhattan dog run, he herded the other dogs – pit bulls and all – jumping the fence and chasing the tourists into the river.

He hated city living – most of all our apartment, only 800 square feet – but also how everyone had to pet him. “Look at you! Little Nakka! You’re so cute!” They didn’t understand that he only bit because he needed space. Anyway, I had to take him back to his home to Ilulissat…where apparently some of the other dogs think he’s putting on airs.

Do-It-Yourself Writer’s Retreat

Posted on August 10, 2015 by McPhedran

Writing retreats, like writing conferences, are con jobs. If you want to write, then you should write. And here’s how you can retreat yourself:

a. Find an isolated place – hopefully a key setting in your book – and go there. b. Give yourself time, more than you think you might need, at least 10 days.

c. Arrive and unwind. Don’t worry about writing on the first day. d. Create a routine on your first full day – and allow yourself to break it.

e. Never get too down (or up) on your work. Just keep writing. A few words is enough.

f. Be active. You have to get out and circulate your fluids.g. Entertain yourself. Good books are the best, films too. (Just remember that connections – phones, internet, TV – are absolutely vorboten.)

h. Plan the next one.

Ice Friday: Kenko

Posted on August 7, 2015 by McPhedran

It is all very well while there are those who remember and mourn the dead, but soon they too pass away; the descendants only know of him by hearsay, so they are hardly likely to grieve over his death. Finally, all ceremonies for him cease; no one any longer knows who he was or even his name, and only the grasses of each passing spring grow there to move the sensitive to pity; at length even the graveyard pine that sobbed in stormy winds is cut for firewood before its thousand years are up, the ancient mound is leveled by the plough, and the place becomes a field. The last trace of the grave itself has finally disappeared. It is sad to think of.

(From Kenko’s A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Tree)

Palmyra: History on its Side

Posted on May 27, 2015 by McPhedran

Palmyra has slipped behind the ISIS shroud, a terrible thing not just for the 50,000 inhabitants but also for the ancient place itself.
I had the privilege of visiting Palmyra in 2010 and was entranced, like many, by its remarkably picturesque setting. The city has seen its share of conquests over its 9,500 year history, from prehistoric times through Queen Zenobia to the present day.Hopefully this dark chapter will soon be closed.

Greenland’s Ice

Posted on May 16, 2015 by McPhedran

On the west coast of Greenland, the ice has begun to melt once again. It’s a slow, relentless process..

Chris Hadfield’s “An Astronaut’s Guide to Life On Earth”

Posted on May 10, 2015 by McPhedran

Chris Hadfield’s An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth is something to read. Self-reflective and detailed, Hadfield offers a glimpse into what it really means to be an astronaut. If the only thing you really enjoyed was whipping around Earth in a spaceship, you”d hate being an astronaut. You train for a few years, minimum, before you’re even assigned to a space mission. You practice tricky, repetitive tasks as well as highly challenging ones to the point of exhaustion, and you’re away from home more than half the time.(37)

Intellectually, I’d known I was venturing out into space yet still the sight of it shocked me, profoundly, In a spacesuit, you’re not aware of taste, smell, touch. the only sounds your hear are your own breathing and, through the headset, disembodied voices. You’re in a self-contained bubble, cut off, then you look up from your task and the universe rudely slaps you in the face, It’s overpowering, visually, and no other senses warn you that you’re about to be attacked by the raw beauty. (89-90) Oh, and another thing about Colonel Hadfield: he certainly knows his hockey.

The Reason Christ Died For Our Sins

Posted on April 5, 2015 by McPhedran

I walked along a long and winding road this Easter Sunday.And I wondered about why Christ had bothered to die for our sins. I just couldn’t figure it out.

Things That Have Been in Space

Posted on March 25, 2015 by McPhedran

These things have been in space and can be viewed at the Air & Space Smithsonian Museum in Washington, DC.

Freezing Rain on the Washington Mall

Posted on March 2, 2015 by McPhedran

It was a cold and miserable day in Washington DC, with a steady freezing rain. In other words, a perfect day to visit the monuments.
And then it was time to dry out.

New Orleans’ Other Parades: The Second Line

Posted on January 25, 2015 by McPhedran

The people of New Orleans love to parade, but not only on Mardi Gras. There are actually 40 different Sundays booked throughout the year for clubs to parade behind marching bands, as the famed Second Line, dancing to celebrate the spirit of the music. Today’s parade was represented by five clubs: Ladies & Men of Unity, Brother’s of Change, Sophisticated Ladies with Class, KOK King of Kings and Men of Integrity. The people gathered at the parade’s starting point, Second Street and Danneel in Central New Orleans…and then the police arrived to announce the parade was cancelled because a permit had not been dated. There was a lot of milling around and talking after that, one man directing people to clear the streets as he served shots of bourbon form the back of his pickup truck.

The police repeated their message. There was more milling and talking. A band appeared and started to play. And the parade began. Another band followed, the marching band for Brothers of Change, from out of the bar, their second line running after them.The parade was suddenly in full bloom. A lone NOPD car following at a distance.

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