What is a family? According to the dictionary, family for humans, is a group of people who are affiliated by blood, affinity or co-residence. Some years ago, as I walked to the subway, a guy began walking beside me. He plied me with the usual questions then asked if I had a family. Of course, I said. I forget now what else I said only his response, which was something...

Memorial Day is the day set aside to remember the those men and women who have died for this country. Personally, I’m conflicted about war but I’m clear about this: It isn’t the war, it’s the people – fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, uncles, aunts and cousins – who matter. They matter because of the sacrifice they make. I visited to Arlington National Cemetery twice when I lived in Washington, D.C....

Sometimes, the best photos are the ones imprinted on our minds. They capture more than just the images. That thought was in my mind as I looked through my collection to select the photos for this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge. There’s an image related to water that I wish I had captured on film so I could share. Some people can’t live without the mountains, I can’t live without water....

Memorial Day weekend marks the official/unofficial start of summer and tomorrow, May 28th, kicks off beach season. And not a moment too soon. It’s been a long and brutal winter in the Northeast and I, for one, am ready for some sea and sun! The best part about being in this area is that most of the beaches are accessible via public transportation: subways or train, whether the Long Island...

I’m not sure when it happened. I can’t pinpoint the exact time, but I haven’t been to church in quite a while. I’m so clueless that I didn’t realize this would be Easter weekend, yesterday Easter Sunday. When I was growing up, I knew the liturgical calendar. I knew when it was Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Had I been going to church, I would have known. I’ve always loved Easter. It’s flush...

I love fish and every now and then, I’ll make fish and chips. But on my third trip to London, I realized I’d never had fish and chips there. I decided to remedy that. After browsing books and talking with authors and sellers at the London Book Fair at Earls Court, I decided to head upstairs for lunch. I was pleased to see fish and chips on the menu and...

I blame Mrs. Anderson, my high school Spanish teacher, who planted the idea in my head. She had studied in Spain and brought back fascinating stories that she shared in class. So when I discovered that my university had a semester abroad program, I signed up right away. Three months in Spain? I knew there would be adventure ahead. Our group of about 15 arrived in Barcelona on January 5th....

I took these photographs last March in DC with my Blackberry. As I remember, it had warmed up a bit during the week but later turned cold, rainy and windy so most of the Cherry Blossoms I wanted to see had been blown away by the weekend. The tulips, however, survived the bad weather and were just beautiful. All kinds of colors and color combination. It was almost the same...