Prisoner of Hopes

Tag: connection

  • Travel Goals: Forest Bathing

    We hike down the hill this morning to catch the Floibanen funicular to Floyen. The cars are modern and clean. It is a rare and sunny day in Bergen and the locals are flocking to the mountain. We go along. At the top, we enjoy the views of Bergen and the surrounding fjords. Smaller towns…

  • Travel Goals: Arrival

    Travel day is stressful, at least if you are me. Unable to control even a little bit of the day’s schedule, we arrive at the airport earlier than expected. Yay! Our flight is delayed… sigh. The crew shows up. Yay! The leave to sit out the delay elsewhere… sigh. Once aboard, we settle in for…

  • Educating for Sanity: Civility

    Civility: a concept that seems to be waning in the United States. From the Latin, the literal meaning is “as befitting a good citizen”. It carries connotations of professional, ethical, respectful and courteous behavior. Incivility, thus translates as behavior unbecoming of a citizen. It is behavior of the barbarians. Incivility runs the gamut of behaviors…

  • Educating for Sanity: Press For Freedom

    I have to admit that I am a compulsive reader. Each morning I try to consume articles from several newspapers on a variety of topics. I vary my sources both nationally and internationally. So I was surprised again and again, over the last seven or eight years, when many of my friends developed very strong…

  • Educating for Sanity: The Nation of Immigration

    So much discussion, attention, and emotion…. Immigration talk has flooded our media sources, emerging as an American campaign issue in 2016 and again in 2024. Let’s move beyond the rhetoric and attempt to understand the topic more deeply, starting with basic definitions. An immigrant is someone who moves permanently to live and work in a…

  • My Toes Are Cold

    As I sit and watch the snow outside my window, my toes are cold. But my coffee is warm. I have central heating in my house and a blanket on the arm of my chair. My toes are cold, but they don’t have to be. Down the hall, I have a warm bed which I…

  • Educating for Sanity: Epistemology

    Ever wonder how two people can look at the same issue, the same facts (transcript, video tape, testimony, etc.) or have the same exact experience and come away with completely different views about what happened? For centuries, humans have been wrestling with the question, “how can we really know anything.” As a freshman college student…

  • Educating for Sanity: Empathy

    It has been a hard ten days. The turmoil in this country, the barrage of executive orders, the anger and accusation is exhausting. To be clear, I reject bigotry of all forms. I am saddened by the targeted attacks on public servants and the incivility on display by government officials. Most of all, I am…

  • All Good Things Must Come To An End: Travel Goals

    The end of a trip…sadness of leaving a new favorite corner of the world….happiness to be heading home. Despite the fact that I hate air travel (to be specific, I hate the hoops you have to go through at the airport), travel day is always exciting. We leave Lesa early in the morning and make…

  • Last Day Is Always Bittersweet: Travel Goals

    Our last day in Italy. Where did the time go? We decided to stay fairly close to home as we needed to pack and prepare for a morning flight. Although we had connected trains in the town of Domodossola, we had yet to visit. It seemed like a great destination. The town sits next to…