R.A.D. Stainforth on the City Walls, York, UK  (photo by Tess Kincaid)   Like the city, your grip is strong. You guide me in quiet ...

Robert Cornelius, self-portrait, Philadelphia, 1839, facing front, arms crossed.  Inscription on backing: The first light-picture ever t...

Song Without Words ,  The Photograhs and Diaries  of  Countess  Sophia Tolstoy , by Leah Bendavid-Val, is a fascinating book published...

click to embiggen I didn't realize, until recently, that the first American poet was a woman. Anne Bradstreet 's book of poems, ...

For men and women are not only themselves; they are also the region in which they are born, the city apartment or farm in which they...

In hot weather, all tight fitting underwear  is sticky and disagreeable. --BVD ad, 1906 1906 ad--click to embiggen I'm not looking...

the lucky buckeye I keep in my handbag Oh where, tell me  where was your buckeye cabin made? Twas built among the merry boys  who wield t...

Friday afternoon, my local Aldi store happened to have a huge display of Cracker Jack bags on special for 99 cents each, right in front of t...

Last week, when I wrote the poem titled Pink , a long legacy of pink hair curlers came to mind. It all started when I was eight, and my hair...

This afternoon, when I used the name "Jocko" in a piece of poetry, I remembered seeing several lawn jockeys, or Yardells, as they...

After my recent post on doppelgängers , in which I included an image of a stereoview card of Lincoln, my sweet artist friend, Suki , was ki...

My DNA tingling, I couldn't let this week's Theme Thursday subject "castle" pass, without mentioning Sorbie Castle, my an...

stele: also ste·la (stē'lə) pl. steles also ste·lae (-lē)  An upright stone marker or slab with an inscribed  or sculptured surface, u...

Hey, I hope you are getting your dance cards ready for next week's big event , here at the manor. Did you know that the dance card, also...

I noticed this past weekend, as we drove by fields of corn and soybeans, most had not yet been harvested. There were a few freshly cut alfa...

Since I am all about tartans this week at the manor, this little bit of tartan trivia caught my eye. Sorry, Mel. As much as I loved the hunk...

WT recently informed me that in Bulgaria, when someone says "knock on wood", they actually knock underneath the table, in order ...