Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Posted on May 19, 2011 - by admin

Home Again

It was good to be home from Greece – exactly one night in my own bed – then off again to speak at the Pennsylvania School Librarians, then to various schools and conferences – all wonderful, and now home again to focus on writing projects, The Gathering (check it out: www.gathering.keystone.edu) and other business.
Will keep you up to date here and on The Gathering Facebook page.

Posted on April 23, 2011 - by admin

Olympia

At the temple of Hera we were talking about the shield signed by the Greek kings in 776 BC, renouncing war so the first Olympic Games might proceed. This was a solution to constant warfare offered by the Delphi Oracle. We wondered at the wisdom of the Oracle and the kings. Walking back Ashley came up beside me and recited “TheWorld Is Too Much with Us” and it moved me tremendously. We celebrated Good Friday in the square atNapflion, the first Capital of modern Greece. we arrived from Olympia just as the bells of all of the cities’ churches began their slow, low-pitched dirges. At about ten pm flower-covered biers descended from every part of the city, and we stood in the crowd chanting the Kyrie Eleison. The Bishop, anient and propped up by priests gave a homily in a strong, clear voice. Today we’re on a ferry to Crete.

Posted on April 21, 2011 - by admin

Delphi

Apollo smiled on us today – sunny skies and a cool breeze to walk up the mountain to the Apollo temple where the Oracle sat. Above us were snowy peaks, and below us the Gulf of Corinth. Apollo – god of harmony, god of music – was perhaps the earliest proponent of diversity. One of his epithets was ‘Harmony in Contrast’. Others were ‘Ignorance of the law is no defense,’ and ‘Know yourself’. On the retaining wall were inscribed laws written in the 5th century BC so that all citizens might know and understand them, and so that they would apply to everyone equally. They brought tears to my eyes. Tonight we discussed The Odyssey at sunset in Olympia. Anyone interested in this program, check out The Examined Life. They have a terrific Website. good night.

Posted on April 20, 2011 - by admin

This morning we walked to the Acropolis to survey Pheidies’ idea of perfection in planning the Parthenon according to the 9:4 proportional ratio that I’vealways associated with Fibonacci. what we lost in the Dark Ages! I hope any would-be Crusaders think twice about that. This afternoon we drove the base of snowy Mt. Parnassus, and tomorrow we visit Delphi. Life is good!

Posted on April 19, 2011 - by admin

Island of Aegina

This morning we boarded a ferry to the volcanic island of Aegina. We drove through pine forests and pistachio trees with branches (still leafless) raised like arthritic hands and arrived at a convent dedicated to Minas, saint of the shepherds. We listened to a description of Holy Week in Greece in a gorgeous little church, and the nuns invited us into their gift shop and offered us little pieces of sugar coated jelly scented with rosewater. Barbara Harrison calls the sweet loukoumi, and the hospitality ‘philo xenia’ a kind of open-hearted offering of water and sweets and friendship wherever we stop. We went on to the sanctuary of Aphaia and Athena on a hilltop overlooking the Aegean. The hillsides are covered with fruit and nut trees and huge patches of bright yellow coreopsis, purple rose of Sharon, red poppies, and fuscia thistles. It’s been cloudy, but when the sun shines it defines the angles of austere stucco houses. Next we went to the house of Eleni and Themistocles Zacchairou, who fed us octopus, gorgeous tomatoes, feta, lamb, wine and baclava – more philo xenia as we looked out (you guessed it) over the Agegean and petted their two charming dogs, BoBo and Cookie. I’m in love with Greece. More soon . . .

Posted on April 19, 2011 - by admin

I arrived in Athens Sunday, met my friends from The Examined Life, and feel as if I may have lived here in a previous life. Driving into Athens from the airport, the lemon and olive trees, the sea and the mountains felt like home. Yesterday we went to Corinth, and visited the place where Paul was exonerated of charges that he’d preached against the Romans. Red poppies covered the hillsides. When I was a student, and more recently, reading Greek literature, I could never keep straight who was a mere mortal, who a hero, and who was a god. Somehow here it all falls into place. We happened to be traveling with an expert on ancient sanitation systems. Her insights added a slap of reality to it all. Then on to Mycenae to visit Agamemnon’s tomb (where he most likely was not buried – if, in fact, he truly lived at all). Driving past the gnarled 200-year-old (only guessing, it may be more) trunks of olive trees, I began to feel that this slippery grasp of reality and truth must make life a little easier to hang on to here. I wonder if I’ll take some of that away with me. We then went on to Epidurias (apologies for spellings, which seem to vary) – a place of healing. In the theater, which seats 12,600 ailing souls, built two millennia BC, Ashley Bryant recited Langston Hughes poetry. Squealing hordes of European teen-agers stopped crawling all over the theater and stopped to listen. He IS a national treasure. Definitely the high point. Today we’re off to Egina, where a friend of Barbara Harrison (founder of The Examined Life) will host us for the day. More soon.

Posted on January 25, 2011 - by admin

Welcome to my Blog!

I am about to be away for a few weeks. My first stop is Greece, and I hope to post from there. I’ll be traveling with The Examined Life program of classical Greek studies. It’s my first visit to Greece, and I have no idea when or how often I’ll have Internet access. Feel free to stop by and check the blog for occasional updates, news, and information. I’d love to hear your comments. And if you’d like to suggest a topic please feel free to do that, too. Thanks for checking in.
Suzanne