The Traveling Pancy

One of my many versions of paradise is luxuriating in my own private villa perched atop a cliff with sweeping views of the ocean. Of course, warm sunny weather, tropical breezes and magnificent sunsets are a must (especially when it’s cold back home). Throw in a private pool, access to a pristine sandy beach, outdoor…

I was quite the globetrotter in early November traveling from Detroit to Phoenix to Toronto to San Juan in the course of a week. Moving from cold overcast to dry sunshine to wet snow to humid heat within a matter of days, made packing challenging as I strategized how to fit professional and casual clothes…

All too quickly, it was the final day of our workshop. The evening before, fellow writer and appointed local guide, K, volunteered to take any early risers to watch the day break over the Wukoki ruins in Wupatki National Monument. Four of us jumped at the offer and left our warm beds without even a…

I was able to partake in both Day of the Dead and Halloween festivities while in Flagstaff. Coincidentally, these holidays fall next to each other on the calendar and although both involve skeletons, treats, graveyards and death imagery, they significantly differ in their origins, traditions and meaning. Given the large number of Mexican Americans in…

After several days of learning and practicing the nuances of good wrting, it was time for a group fertilizing expedition.   Both Jacki and Eric, our writing instructors, stressed the importance of practicing detailed observation – or as Eric called it, collecting the fertilizer needed to help inform your piece of writing.  So on a…

One of the priorities on my mental list ‘of things I would do more of if I had the time’, is to write. I enjoyed writing as a child and young adult – mostly everyday journaling and short stories, but life got busier and more complex with career, family and community and the extent of…

I first walked the Manhattan High Line after the third phase of its opening in November, 2016. I’d read about the urban greenway and trail that had been developed on the former New York Central Railroad spur on Manhatten’s lower west side in Rails to Trails magazine. Despite its short length (1.45miles) and narrow width,…

What better way to spend a warm summer afternoon in NYC than sampling authentic Italian food in Little Italy? My daughter recently relocated to Manhattan for work and my visit was one of her first opportunities to play tourist. A friend had recommended the two hour food tour in Little Italy so on a pleasant…

So how did I come to be in Winston-Salem? Each fall for the last 10 years, I get together with my former mentor – a women 15 years my senior who taught me the survival skills in the male dominated auto industry in the late 70s. She lives midway between Nashville and Knoxville, Tenessee so…

Besides tobacco, Winston-Salem and surrounding Forsyth County owe its development to a small group of German speaking Protestants that settled in the area in the early 1700s. Called Moravians, or Unitas Fratum (United Brethren), these pioneers were spirtual descendents of the Czech priest, Jan Hus, who was burned at the stake as a heretic in…