Finding Holy Water

October 19, 2012

Here's a question I never expected to be answering: “How do I go about finding holy water?” It came from a newcomer to the Céile Dé tradition, in which we use water to bless ourselves as part of our daily meditation practice.

Glastonbury stars at the Olympics

August 02, 2012

Surely many viewers of the Opening Ceremonies of the London Olympics were baffled by the stubby, terraced, tree-crowned hill in the center of the Olympic Stadium. To me, it was instantly recognizable as Glastonbury Tor.

Technology and the Garden

March 03, 2011

What sounds like a fascinating symposium will take place May 6-7, 2011, at Dumbarton Oaks -- "Technology in the Garden," with speakers, panels, and films that look at the history, present state, and potential future interaction among technology, design, horticulture, and place.

Whose park is it?

April 11, 2010

Isn't everyone be important enough to have a safe space to play, reflect, chat, and learn? Is that the way it works in your neighborhood? Or, are there populations who aren't aware that the parks are for them?

Street grid: System or mystery?

December 12, 2009

Clara Barton Parkway, not in Arlington, but across the river in Maryland. I don't seem to have any good photos of the Arlington streetscape. Sounds like a good idea for a future project. If roads could speak. . . . Matt Johnson over at Greater Greater Washington has detailed the logic behind the street names in Arlington County, VA, where I live. It's a system that drives visitors nuts, because many streets are discontiguous. For example, I live on the western segment of Little Falls Road. The eastern segment (where the Knights of Columbus hall is located -- I've given directions many times) starts about a quarter mile away, on the other side of a small shopping center. You'd probably never get from one segment to the other without a map. So that's what we give our kids here when they start driving -- a detailed map book for the glove box. I've lived in Arlington for 20 years, and I still refer to mine at least once a month.

One of the interesting features of our local street grid is that you can clearly pick out the older roads that predate the grid system. That's probably something easy to see almost anywhere, once you peel off the automobile-era layer of the street system. What can you learn about your own local history and environment by looking at those roads?