This is the first time I’ve ever had a poem published. Still Point Arts Quarterly is a very beautiful publication. Shanti Arts
I could not feel prouder or more honored to have Cranes accepted by this magazine.
The summer issue can either be purchased as a printed magazine or viewed online for free. If you scroll down this page for Still Point Arts Quarterly, click on my name to read Cranes. The entire issue is gorgeous, and worth ordering in print. You can also view it directly here: Cranes
I am a Best American Essays-nominated writer. My books are Broken In: A Novel in Stories, Tsunami Cowboys, Grounded, The Trail Back Out, and The Taste of Your Name. Recent awards include Finalist for the 2025 Compass Press Book Award for The Taste of Your Name and Finalist for Greece’s Eyelands 11th International Short Story Contest.
Follow this link to learn more about me and buy my books
For me, one of the most exciting events during our two weeks in Tanzania was completely unexpected. We’d spent days on the Serengeti Plain to see the Great Migration. Now we were driving to the Ngorogoro Conservation Area. We halted very close to the Olduvai Gorge at a rest area with public toilets. [1] A sign advertising our next destination stood on one side of the parking lot.
Tanzania 2026
On the other side UNESCO had erected a huge plaque. Curious, I went over to read it.
I was standing less than 30 miles from where Mary Leakey discovered the Zinjanthropus skull, which pushed back the known timeline of human evolution to 1.75 million years ago and confirmed Africa as the cradle of humankind. AND! She found the Proconsul skull that connected us to a prehistoric ape ancestor. AND! She found the Laetoli footprints, fossil footprints proving early humans had walked erect far longer than scientists had believed. AND! The UNESCO World Heritage sign firmly gave all the credit to Mary, where it belongs.
I was out of my mind with excitement as I read. For some reason I’d always thought that those paleoanthropological discoveries occurred in Kenya (where the Leakeys had also conducted digs). To be so close to where the incredible artifacts were found, and to see her groundbreaking discoveries properly credited at last, thrilled me beyond words.
I am in awe. Tanzania 2026
Mary Leakey has been called ‘the woman who found our ancestors’. But, for as long as I can remember, her husband Louis got (stole!) all the credit. Louis Leakey was charismatic, showy, and a bit of a charlatan. He was skilled at fundraising and loved being in the limelight of fame. When Mary’s discoveries became famous, he traveled around the US to lecture about ‘his’ finds and speculate about their significance.
Mary quietly went on with her field work. She couldn’t care less about fame and wasn’t a bit intimidated by male colleagues.
For almost a century people have been trying to explain away the lack of credit she received. Sometimes her husband’s theft is described as a collaborative effort. As I was putting together this blog post, I was annoyed when I read an article in an article in The Roanoke Times, that “marriage to Mary Nicol paired Leakey with a first-rate scientist freeing him to work the public relations side of science. … Primarily using Mary’s work, Louis regained his scientific reputation.” [2] In other words, she did the work and he got all the credit.
The Smithsonian Magazine’s profile of Mary is even worse. The author said, “It’s worth remembering that Mary Leakey wasn’t university-educated and got her start as an illustrator on archaeological digs like the one where she first met Louis. And that Louis Leakey was already “a Cambridge University professor with an established reputation for fieldwork in East Africa,” according to Barnes, when he left his pregnant first wife to marry Mary, who was in her early twenties. Mary was talented, but she probably wasn’t sure how to play the game of academia, particularly in a field as fraught with intense differences of interpretation as paleoanthropology, which requires practitioners to form extended arguments off a few remaining physical clues about our ancient ancestors.” [3]
The article is another attempt to explain away her husband’s claim to her incredible discoveries as if really, he was just doing her a big favor. This is utter bullshit.
My questions are: WHY is it worth remembering that Mary Leakey wasn’t university educated? Mary probably wasn’t sure how to play the game?? A more plausable explanation is the well known fact that she didn’t indulge in speculation! Mary believed in using science and research to reach the conclusions.
I didn’t know that Uwe took my photo as I paid my respects before that sign. On that afternoon I felt an intense connection to our common ancestors, going back millions and millions of years. Standing where she had, where my first humanoid ancestors stood, made me dizzy.
It took my breath away and brought me close to tears. Still does, actually.
In honor of Mary Douglas Nicol Leakey, 6 February 1913 – 9 December 1996
NOTES: As if all this wasn’t enough, Mary also created a system to classify the stone tools they found at Olduvai. At the Laetoli site where she discovered the footprints, she also found hominin fossils more than 3.75 million years old. She discovered fifteen new animal species. She was responsible for creating a new genus. And she was the first to write about the Kondoa Irangi Rock Paintings in central Tanzania.
[1] Usually we made bush toilets, where you climb out of the jeep and duck down behind the back of it in the road. [2] The Roanoke Times . [3] And the title! “Mary Leakey’s Husband (Sort of) Took Credit For Her Groundbreaking Work on Humanity’s Origins.” Come on, Smithsonian! You’ve got to be kidding. https://www.smithsonianmag.
I am a Best American Essays-nominated writer. My books are Broken In: A Novel in Stories, Tsunami Cowboys, Grounded, The Trail Back Out, and The Taste of Your Name. Recent awards include Finalist for the 2025 Compass Press Book Award for The Taste of Your Name and Finalist for Greece’s Eyelands 11th International Short Story Contest.
Nguyễn Sinh Cung, known to the world as Hồ Chí Minh, is Vietnam’s most famous revolutionary, politician, writer, poet, and journalist. He wrote poetry, books, and articles in Vietnamese, Chinese, and French. He served as Chairman and First Secretary of the Workers’ Party, Prime Minister, and President of Vietnam.
The details of his life are shrouded in myth and mystery. He went by at least 50 and maybe up to 200 pseudonyms. [*]
Nguyễn Sinh Cung is affectionately referred to as ‘Uncle Hồ’.
From a post card I bought in Hanoi
To mark his birthday, I give you the post I wrote about our first visit to Vietnam. – Jadi
On our first visit to Vietnam we booked a day trip to the Perfume Pagoda. [1] The Perfume Pagoda is a major Buddhist pilgrimage destination. The Huong Mountains contain fertility and agricultural cults, too.
The name Perfume Pagoda really refers to a number of shrines on – and in – the mountaintop. The most important temple is the Perfume Temple found inside Huong Tich Cave. It’s northern Viet Nam’s holiest site and the setting for the country’s most important and longest religious holiday.
The fest starts in the middle of the first lunar month (February 15) and runs from February to April. Hundreds of thousands of worshippers make the trek to present offerings at the mountain’s shrines and temples. At the high point of the festival, peak traffic stalls for as long as 8 hours on the Yen Vi River.
While the entire trip can be made by road, we took the water route. Reaching the site involved a two hour taxi ride to the pier located 70 km southwest of Hanoi in My Duc Town, a boat trip being rowed for two hours on the shallow Yen Vi River to the base of the pilgrimage site, and finally a two-hour hike up into the limestone Huong Mountains.
For the taxi ride we traveled with our guide on one of Viet Nam’s first highways. As you can see in Uwe’s photograph, the traffic on this new main artery in 2003 was almost non existent.
Autobahn trafficBoat launch at Bến Đục
A young woman rowed us upriver. The boatwomen at Bến Đục (Duc Pier) make enough money to support their families, and are chosen by lottery.
We made our slow way past rice paddies and limestone peaks.
Fishermen in impossibly tiny boats balanced, standing, as they shocked the water with weak electricity to stun the fish they collected in the bottoms of their flat vessels.
After disembarking we hiked 4 kilometers straight up.
Beginning the pilgrimage up the steps
Good shoes are needed as the path is steep in places and the stone stairs are slippery if it’s been raining! The landscape is lush, and the spectacular views are worth the strenuous hike.
Taking a break on the hike up the mountain
The Huong Mountains are rich in myths and legends. One story relates how a Buddhist monk came here to meditate in solitude two thousand years ago. Another legend tells the story of the Perfume Pagoda’s Quan Am or Guan Yin. [2] A stone at Phat Tich temple contains her preserved footprint.
It’s believed that the Buddha stopped to wash at the Giai Oan temple. Pilgrims clean their faces and hands in the Long Tuyen Well to wash away past karmas.
But older deities are present. Cua Vong shrine is where believers make offerings to the Goddess of the Mountains. And inside the holiest of holies, the cave’s stalactites are sought out for blessings.
Entrance to Huong Tich grotto
Once we reached the cave, we descended back down 120 wide stone steps to the Huong Tich Grotto, which translates as ‘traces of fragrance’.
We entered the cave, whose opening is a dragon’s mouth. Inside Chua Trong (Inner Temple), our guide positioned himself underneath a stalactite and tried to catch a drop of moisture on his tongue.
The stalactites grant good fortune. Pilgrims through the ages have named them: Basket of Silkworms, Boy Stone, Buffalo, Cocoon, Girl Stone, Nine Dragons Compete For Jewels, Pig, Rice Mound, Gold & Silver Mound, and the Mother’s Milk Stone.
Couples wishing for offspring gather under the Boy and Girl Stones; those wanting prosperity seek out drops from the stalactites hanging from the ceiling that grant abundance and wealth. The Perfume Pagoda Festival is considered an auspicious time and place to find a mate, and is the starting point for lots of successful romances.
At the time we visited, the remote northern region had just gotten electricity. And as our boat headed back down the Yen Vi we passed by boats bringing materials to build a new pier even further upriver. [3]
In memory of Hồ Chí Minh 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969)
NOTES: [*] It only seemed right to give this footnote a red asterisk!Wikipedia: Hồ Chí Minh. [1] This excursion immediately became one of my favorite trips of all time. [2] Guan Yin is the bodhisattva (usually female) associated with the quality of compassion. A bodhisattva is an enlightened being who delays Nirvana, staying behind to assist others in finding enlightenment. The Guan Yin of the Perfume Pagoda is identified with Dieu Thien, the third daughter of Dieu Trang, King of Huong Lam. She refused to marry, wishing to spend her time in prayer instead. [3] An ingenious way to transport the needed materials to the site!
I am a Best American Essays-nominated writer. My books are Broken In: A Novel in Stories, Tsunami Cowboys, Grounded, The Trail Back Out, and The Taste of Your Name. Recent awards include Finalist for the 2025 Compass Press Book Award for The Taste of Your Name and Finalist for Greece’s Eyelands 11th International Short Story Contest.
Uwe and I spent two weeks in Tanzania and Zanzibar in January. One of the highlights for me wasn’t what we saw (although there were highlights aplenty). A highlight was what I got to do. It all started with a boat ride to spot birds. Uwe sat in the middle of the canoe and took photographs.
Tanzania 2026Squacco HeronCormorantsSquacco Heronanother gorgeous cormorantgetting dried offStriated HeronMalachite KingfisherAfrican Fish Eagle, high upa GULP of cormorants! What a great name for a group of birds, especially these onesHammerhead bird
We had a fantastic guide/driver for a ten day safari. He knew everything, except how to swim. When the day’s activities involved going out in a canoe on Lake Duluti, he firmly declined to join us, even with a life jacket.
Did either Uwe or I know how to paddle a canoe? asked our guide for the lake. I do! I do! I was sooo excited. I grew up around water and canoes and man I miss them.
I spent the next two hours paddling the circumferance of the lake. Uwe took endless photos of the water birds. We were both in Paradise.
paddling my way to Heaventhat dazzling Malachite Kingfisher again
I am a Best American Essays-nominated writer. My books are Broken In: A Novel in Stories, Tsunami Cowboys, Grounded, The Trail Back Out, and The Taste of Your Name. My recent awards are Finalist for the 2025 Compass Press Book Award and Finalist for Greece’s Eyelands 11th International Short Story Contest.
Click here for my author page to learn more about me and purchase my books.
If you travel long enough, at some point you end up on a lousy tour…. Ours happened on Zanzibar. We booked a day tour that included a taxi to and guide for Stone Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The drive was long (an hour), the day was hot (34 degrees Centigrade), and our guide was bored…. He recited the pertinent details in a monotone and hustled us down the hot streets to the next highlight.
He steered us into a jewelry shop even after I told him I was NOT interested – the commission he would have gotten if I bought some tanzanite jewelry there was worth the risk of my annoyance.
There were hidden costs. We had to pay our own entry into The East African Slave Trade Exhibit (EASTE) . Which we went through by ourselves, because our guide decided he was going to hang out outside with the other bored guides. Uwe and I took our damned time going through the museum. We weren’t going to rush through at least that part of the history of Zanzibar.
Anyway. We could have taken a taxi from our hotel and used our guide book to see Stone Town. We’d have saved money and had more time and more fun.
But we’ve had such good luck all these years that one lousy tour won’t keep us from trying to see the sights the next time. Until then, here are some photos from the Stone Town Market Hall.
I am a Best American Essays-nominated writer. My books are Broken In: A Novel in Stories, Tsunami Cowboys, Grounded, The Trail Back Out, and The Taste of Your Name. Recent awards include Finalist for the 2025 Compass Press Book Award for The Taste of Your Name and Finalist for Greece’s Eyelands 11th International Short Story Contest.
When do you know if another person is a good match? When Uwe and I first got together, the answer for us was travel. I was in Europe for a few months (a time period that has now lasted 34 years….). I visited an old friend in Germany (Uwe) and we decided it would be fun to travel together in the former Eastern Europe (Czechoslovakia, Poland, and Hungary).
Back then, the Soviet patina hadn’t been scrubbed away yet. Things were still pretty dusty and rusty. I’ll be posting shortly about those experiences. But today I want to share a roadside Madonna with you.
I grew up in upstate New York, where bathtub Madonnas are a common sight in the North Country.
your basic bathtub Madonna
Near the border crossing into Czechoslovakia we saw this one. I made Uwe stop the car so I could get out and take a photo.
Poet Charles Baudelaire was born April 9, 1821 in Paris, France. I was fascinated to discover that he’d translated the works of Edgar Allen Poe into French! In Baudelaire’s honor here is the post I wrote after visiting Crete and trying dittany. – Jadi
I’m sitting down to drink a cup of tea. If you don’t hear from me again, please notify my husband.
I’m going to try dittany or diktamos. The Cretans call it erontas or erondas, from the word eros. As you know, Eros is the Greek god of love and sexuality. The Greek is diktamos (δίκταμος) or erondas (έρωντας).
Diktamos is an herb that grows only on remote, rocky hilltops on the island of Crete. The name comes from the Dikti mountain range in the Lasithi region of East Crete.
The use of dittany goes back into the mists of history. It may be the plant featured in the fresco of garlands at the Minoan palace of Knossos. Hippocrates prescribed it. Homer, Euripides, Aristotle and Theophrastus, Plutarch and Virgil all wrote about the herb.
When Aeneas is injured, his mother Aphrodite (Venus) uses dittany to cure him:
A branch of healing dittany she brought
Which in the Cretan fields with care she sought:
Rough is the stern, which woolly leafs surround;
The leafs with flow’rs, the flow’rs with purple crown’d,
Well known to wounded goats; a sure relief
To draw the pointed steel, and ease the grief. [1]
Even characters in Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du Mal and JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows use dittany. The herb is considered an aphrodisiac (okay, maybe not in Harry Potter). Suitors collected the wild dittany flowers and gave bouquets to prove their love. The young men were known as “erondades (love seekers) and were considered very passionate men to go to such dangerous lengths to collect the herb.” [2] Traditionally, diktamos was given to newlyweds to inflame desire.
It can be used both internally and externally: a poultice, an essential oil, for application on wounds, an herbal tea (my chosen method – I bought a bag of dried herbs when we were on Crete this fall), to disinfect wounds, chewed, or as toothpaste for a sore throat and to clean the mouth and teeth. Dittany is distilled and used as a bitter in vermouth or martinis (for example), and in cosmetics. [3]
Finally, before I drink my brewed cup, I give you my favorite fact. Dittany/Diktamos is also known as the burning bush. I leave it to you to decide why I’m drinking it.
In memory of Charles Baudelaire, 9 April 1821 to 31 August 1867
“Dittany contains an essential oil called Carvacrol, which is a natural antibiotic, 50 times stronger than penicillin. In the leaves, there is furthermore a substance called Dictamin, which is used for cardiovascular diseases. In all, there are 70 different curative substances in the plant that can be extracted and used for medication or cosmetics.” — ilovecrete.eu
“Compounds of Dittany are powerful antioxidants. The essential oils have also antiseptic and anti-fungal properties and are often used in ointments to treat burns and skin ailments. Tea made from dittany is used to relieve tension headaches and as a relaxant. Dittany is also used to relieve indigestion, colic, stomach cramps and bloating. It is also thought to be a diuretic and to combat fever.” —greece-is.com
I am a Best American Essays-nominated writer. My books are Broken In: A Novel in Stories, Tsunami Cowboys, Grounded, The Trail Back Out, and The Taste of Your Name. Recent awards include Finalist for the 2025 Compass Press Book Award for The Taste of Your Name and Finalist for Greece’s Eyelands 11th International Short Story Contest.
My essay Red, Red Roses is included in the Women Power Anthology and was nominated for Best American Essays.
The book is 33% off in a special pre-sale order until April 6th.
All proceeds go to support the International Human Rights Art Movement.
You can now pre-order a copy of “Women Power 2nd Edition.”
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I loved the metal sculptures in southern Africa. They adorn everything from walls to drives to shops. Here are some of my favorites.
Riverside Guest Lodge, Oudtshoorn, South AfricaGate that opens for road to lodge in Divundu, Namibia
Here are a few more examples:
Thamalakane River Lodge, Maun, BotswanaHermanus, South AfricaHermanus, South AfricaVingerklip Lodge, Vingerklip, NamibiaVingerklip Lodge, Vingerklip, Namibia
I am a Best American Essays-nominated writer. My books are Broken In: A Novel in Stories, Tsunami Cowboys, Grounded, The Trail Back Out, and The Taste of Your Name. My recent awards are Finalist for the 2025 Compass Press Book Award and Finalist for Greece’s Eyelands 11th International Short Story Contest.
Click here for my author page to learn more about me and purchase my books.
I present installment #11 from my blog thread describing what to call groups of animals … I updated it and the roll call of endangered species has grown. See how many you can guess. Answers listed at the bottom of the page.
A walk walks very, very slowly.
When this parade parades by, you can’t miss it.
The building builds on the built building.
The skulk skulks to avoid hunters.
The clutter cluttered the basement.
He didn’t want a kettle in his kettle.
Parade member, Sahakari Spice Farm Goa, India
Answers:
Walk race, Cook Islands
Walk of snails [1]
Parade of elephants [2]
Building of rooks [3]
Skulk of foxes [4]
Clutter of spiders [5]
Kettle of vultures [6]
Clutter, Japan
I’m beyond dismayed – I am furious. The Trump administration is gutting environmental protections. Take action. Speak up! Write letters, make phone calls, donate to organizations like the Environmental Defense Fund and Greenpeace. Volunteer.
I am a Best American Essays-nominated writer. My books are Broken In: A Novel in Stories, Tsunami Cowboys, Grounded, The Trail Back Out, and The Taste of Your Name. Recent awards include Finalist for the 2025 Compass Press Book Award for The Taste of Your Name and Finalist for Greece’s Eyelands 11th International Short Story Contest.
The boatwomen at Bến Đục (Duc Pier) make enough money to support their families, and are chosen by lottery.
