Sheron Long's Blog, page 5
June 15, 2020
On a Wing and a Dare
Planes are flying again, but are passengers?
© Joyce McGreevy
An Air Traveler’s Diary in the Pandemic
I love flying. As a pilot’s daughter, I’ve always felt at home in the sky. But airline travel in a pandemic? Opening my travel diary, I scrawl something I’ve never felt before: I dread the airport.
Ballyshane, Ireland
When the world went into lockdown, I was pet-sitting in Ireland. I had a guest cottage, the solitude writers crave, and nature’s beauty. Who’d leave that to fly on a wing and a dare?
But I missed my family, which had grown by three since I’d left the U.S.
It was time to return.
**
Before COVID-19, planning travel between countries was as easy as when Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz clicked her ruby-shod heels together. A few taps on an app and you were good to go.
But as travel restrictions spread globally, the number of flights...
June 8, 2020
Travel Inspiration: Beauty in the Details
The Île Saint-Louis: So many treasures lie within
© Meredith Mullins
Circumnavigating the Île Saint-Louis
How did a tiny island in the middle of the Seine river in Paris meet the challenges of pandemic wanderlust?
Defying Einstein, the less-than-one-square-kilometer area of the Île Saint-Louis seemed to expand during “confinement” to become an undiscovered universe.
My daily wanderings became a profound adventure during this time of sheltering, with a newfound appreciation of beauty in the details.
Wandering the quai in the silence of the evening
© Meredith Mullins
Exploring the Details
Travel inspiration comes in many forms. During the nearly two-month period of “confinement” in France, I sought out authentic virtual travel experiences and gripping travel writing to feed the need for exploration.
The north bank of the Île Saint-Louis
© Meredith Mullins
However, my...
May 26, 2020
May 18, 2020
A Celebration of Spring
In search of paradise (A Bird of Paradise, that is)
© iStock/Waltkopp
Flowers Around the World—the Scary, the Exotic, and the Reassuring
Spring came . . . just as promised through the ages. Not even a global pandemic could stop the natural rhythms of the earth. (This story begins like an ancient myth, doesn’t it?)
The clenched tree buds exploded into gentle leaves of green almost overnight. Flowers bloomed everywhere around the world making the words “riot of color” less of a cliché because the description was so true.
A celebration of spring—poppies in the Paris Jardin des Plantes
© Mavis Negroni
We welcomed the renewal/rebirth metaphor of spring, especially in this time of corona. The change in seasons was one small way to gauge the strange time warp that had enveloped the world during sheltering-in-place/confinement/lockdown.
But we all knew the truth. The celebration of...
May 11, 2020
Recovering Our Awe of Nature
When had we last watched the sunrise?
© Joyce McGreevy
What Does Nature Need Us to Notice?
Have you noticed it? While life in self-quarantine has restricted our movements, it has also unleashed our senses. As the range of our territory has contracted, our attention to the environment has enlarged.
We’ve had to slow down to the speed at which a flower grows, and now, something has begun to blossom. In moment by “oh, I see” moment: we’re regaining our instinct for the awe of nature.
In Ireland, a moment of attention blossomed into awe.
© Joyce McGreevy
Who We Were
How dramatically can cultural attitudes toward nature shift? Consider this. Shortly before lockdown went global, researchers published a report that highlighted an overwhelming lack of connection between people and the natural world.
The report is British, but surely reflects many of us circa 2020...
April 28, 2020
In a World of Worry?
When we feel walled off and overwhelmed, we can still find an opening for calm.
© Joyce McGreevy
10 Cross-Cultural Tips for Staying Calm
As sheltering in place continues and some news proves more stress-inducing than helpful, staying calm is not always easy. Happily, there’s a world of ways to maintain equilibrium. Oh, I see: Wherever you live, cross-cultural tips like these can help restore your inner balance.
1. Begin Where East Meets West—Meditation
Meditation’s stress-reduction benefits are backed up by science. While silent meditation works wonders for some, others may prefer guided meditation. The app Ten Percent Happier is geared to skeptics, first timers, and the downright fidgety.
TIP: To help people cope with lockdown, co-founder Dan Harris launched Ten Percent Happier Live, a free daily “sanity break,” available through the app or on YouTube....
April 21, 2020
In Home Lockdown, What Sustains You?
Jamison and Wendy Reeves cook supper (above) to share
Passover Seder online with friends (below).
Both images © Jamison Reeves and Wendy Clifford Reeves
Keeping Cultural Traditions
Despite Social Distance
Recently in Bulgaria, Hristina Bareva’s mother celebrated an important cultural tradition—her Name Day. “Name days are a big thing in Bulgaria,” says Hristina. So big that “you don’t need permission to visit [the honoree’s] home. It’s socially accepted that you are welcome.”
Palm Sunday is designated for anyone who’s named for a tree or flower. That includes Hristina’s mother, Margarita, after the daisy. In any other year, Margarita would have spent the day offering visitors homemade cakes.
But 2020 is unlike any other year.
Eating cake alone is not festive, says Hristina. “I’m used to associating
food...
April 13, 2020
Virtual Traveler— A Journey of Note
The New York Philharmonic pays tribute to front-line healthcare workers. (Watch below.)
(Courtesy of New York Philharmonic/YouTube)
The Healing Power of Music and the Performing Arts
Much of the world has been “sheltering in place” for a while now. Some of us have lost count of the days, and, in fact, might not even be sure what day of the week it is.
Our exotic travel consists of taking the garbage out or exploring a closet that we haven’t visited for years.
As a result of this change in our daily life, we are becoming expert virtual travelers—happily wandering the rabbit hole of the Internet.
The arts find a way to build community in times of struggle.
© Meredith Mullins (in collaboration with Opera Fuoco)
The good news is that artists and arts organizations are providing a rich offering of music and theatre when we most need it. (See also last week’s OIC...
April 6, 2020
Virtual Traveler: See What You Can See
Yes, you can SEE music. Take a ride in the video below.
© DoodleChaos
At Home with Art and Culture
If you find you’re still in your pajamas at three in the afternoon, or if you have started your own bar crawl by putting a glass of wine in every room of your home, or if you have finished all of Netflix, or you have cleaned every closet … twice, STOP!
It’s time to become a virtual traveler and explore the world’s art and culture in the comfort of your home. The physical doors of arts venues are shuttered during this time of “sheltering in place,” but artistic organizations and artists are rising to the challenge.
Start by SEEING Beethoven’s 5th by Doodle Chaos, where animated line riders show you the beauty of fearless flying, flipping, and falling in rhythm, including the power of pauses between notes.
If video does not display, watch it here....
March 30, 2020
Ireland for the Virtual Traveler
Dog days at the edge of Ireland.
© Joyce McGreevy
Staying Connected Across the Miles
It’s springtime, the sun has come out of hiding, and I want you to come visit. Oh, I know—these days, you can only be a virtual visitor. But now, more than ever, we need to stay connected across the miles.
Take a moment to imagine: Put on your favorite old sweater, the one with a hole in the elbow. Lace up your mud-spattered walking shoes. Pack only your five senses.
Oh, for good measure, toss in your sense of delight. Because we’re off to explore one of Ireland’s most beautiful places. Along the way, I’ve a story to tell you.
To reach Ballyshane, drive south, passing smaller and smaller towns, until you come to a certain crossroads. Yes, that one. Now, thread along ever-narrowing roads, knowing the coast of East County Cork awaits you.
A place for reflection at Ballyshane.
...
