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What I Thought America Meant
When I was little, I was taught that I lived in the greatest country in the entire world. I thought we set the best example, and that based on that example, other countries would aspire to be better, and someday the whole world would be just as wonderful as we were. Everyone would be free.…
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Shoe Shock
Recently I was downtown, and while there, I decided to visit the Nordstrom department store. Not that I needed or wanted to buy anything. It’s just that I’d never been in one before. I figured at the very least, it would have cool Christmas decorations. So, in I went. And I quickly discovered why I’d…
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Salvator Mundi Indeed
So, yeah, this happened: Some anonymous person paid 450 million for Salvator Mundi, a painting by Leonardo da Vinci. A painting of Jesus, Savior of the World. How outraged he would have been. To put it in context, that’s more than the annual gross domestic product of Tonga, Micronesia, Palau and Kiribati. If it were…
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Living in Gingerbread Houses
Now that I live farther from work, and my commute is a typical Seattle nightmare (I had no idea how spoiled I had been!) I have even more time to take flights of fancy. In today’s traffic snarl, this is where my mind went: What would it be like if we all lived in gingerbread…
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My View
A reader recently pointed out to me that this blog is called The View from a Drawbridge, but I haven’t really described my actual view in quite some time. Good point. Excellent point. And it is kind of interesting to contemplate how my perspective on this view has changed over time. For example, I’ve become…
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What Makes You So Special?
One night at the end of December, I went with a neighbor and her son to a tent city to feed the homeless. It is within walking distance of my house, but it’s hidden so well that I never noticed it before. And it’s an amazing place. First of all, it’s not some conglomeration of…
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What is Your Jewelry Worth?
For the first time in my life I can say I feel sorry for Kim Kardashian West. It’s got to be terrifying to have a gun pointed at your head. No doubt it’s traumatic to be robbed and to fear for your life. I hope she’ll get some therapeutic support. But having said that, the…
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Tent Life
Every day here in Seattle I drive past little homeless encampments. They seem to be everywhere. They gather under the overpasses, in the little clumps of forest, and even on the sidewalks. Their tents are ragged and dirty, and usually they sit amongst a field of garbage. It’s heartbreaking to witness, especially during a pervasive…
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Where Does Charity Begin?
The other day I was on my way to volunteer to serve lunch at a soup kitchen with some friends. I’ve done this before, and found it to be a gratifying experience. I was really looking forward to doing it again. But while waiting for my friends, a homeless woman came by, looked at me,…