I drove up to the Outer Banks NC on Monday in record time – just under 14 hours, including four stops for gas. As I neared my destination, the landscape changed to the swampy coastal plain that constitutes much of Tyrell and Dare Counties. I’d forgotten how pretty the Outer Banks is in the spring. … Read more
Occasionally I shop at the Publix Supermarket just around the corner. During my last trip I noticed a sign on the front of my shopping cart: “This shopping cart will automatically stop if taken beyond the yellow line at the end of the parking lot” I thought it was a joke – or at the … Read more
When I moved to Florida a number of people warned me against drinking the tap water. Their mantra was, “Drink only bottled water!” One friend pointed out that because Florida is one of the country’s largest agricultural states, the aquifer was almost certainly contaminated with runoff pesticides. I have mixed feelings about bottled water. First, … Read more
A sixty-two year old woman who earns half her income from the sale of sprouts and microgreens at the Sarasota downtown Farmers Market was shut down today by the Florida Department of Agriculture. The greens she sells are grown in sprouting trays on shelves on her screened porch. Each week she cuts the shoots that … Read more
I’ve been semi-studying Buddhism for many years, so when I discovered the Kadampa Buddhist Meditation Center here in Sarasota, I was eager to check it out. A week ago I went to their “Stop the Week” meditation on Friday evening and the middle of last week I participated in a Puja – a ceremony like … Read more
