Posts:
I spend time each day, living in my rural paradise outside Cuenca, playing in the quebrada (mountain stream). I have a project, moving stones in the creek, creating a wading pool, and sifting through the gravel finding a variety of quartz. The myriad of colors of the...
As winter approaches in North America, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service has instructed migrating Canadian geese to keep flying. Citing the threat of terror and terrine, the large fowl generally referred to as “honkers” have been declared “undesirable...
By Sam Adams In the next several months, you’ll be able to access more content on your TV and TV-shaped devices than ever before. Apple TV+ launches this week with a glitzy, high-profile lineup of new shows — Jen! Reese! — and many more to come. In a matter of days,...
Body Temperature. Have you ever wondered how 98.6° Fahrenheit or 37° Centigrade became “normal” body temperature? In the 1850s, a German physician named Carl Wunderlich collected data on 25,000 patients, taking their temperature multiple times. Wunderlich was the...
Turmoil. On the phone today that’s about the best way I could describe South America to my friend who lives in Thailand. He’s seeing it there too; the King is tossing out and making moves that to many people there, look like he is taking a stronger autocratic position...
Trek text and photos by John Keeble Four old geezers, looking like an international chapter of Last of the Summer Wine, trudge towards the immigration desk at Lima airport, Peru. We are an unusual ethnic mix and we have travelled from Cuenca, where we live when we are...
By Mary Holland When the plate arrived, I wasn’t thrilled about its contents. On it was a deep-fried, puffed-up tortilla with a tiny, bright-red crab resting on top, its pincers jutting off the edge. I’d eaten soft-shell crab numerous times before, so there was no...
My phone began to ring as I exited another building. I was empty handed and frustrated in my search for permission and access to an elevated vantage point to record the rising of the Super Luna that evening. I quickly answered and was thrilled to hear that another...
By Mark Mahoney As societal pressures ramp on a daily basis, our states of mind and outlook on life are tempered by many factors. A new decades-long epidemiologic research study identifies a strong correlational (not causal) association between optimism and...
Almost four years ago, I caught a bus for line #19 and rode it to its termination point west of Cuenca. It was a year before our truck, El Fantasma, would make his berth wherever Edie and I went. I entered the Yanuncay Valley on foot that day by way of Via Soldados,...
By Gina Kolata Public health officials for years have urged Americans to limit consumption of red meat and processed meats because of concerns that these foods are linked to heart disease, cancer and other ills. But on Monday, in a remarkable turnabout, an...
By Robert Bradley Danger is a common companion of artists. They understand that a fresh perspective requires calculated risk and that this offers hidden surprises good and bad, making astute planning an absolute necessity. This challenging environment is clearly on...
It feels so good to be not only sitting here typing but also wanting to. It has been a while since my last column so perhaps an explanation is in order. Three days before my 90th birthday in May I passed out, striking my head on the toilet paper holder as I went down,...
Editor’s note: This is the last of an eight-part series about the climate and biodiversity crises. John Keeble is a former Guardian and London Evening News journalist. He is part of Cuenca’s thriving hiking, cycling and writing communities. You can download free his...
I imagined the day would prove to be rather uneventful. The gray dome that commands the sky almost all day was encouraging folks into the comfort of home; so it seemed to me like a good time for me to catch up on a little reading, fix a pot of hot tea and hang around...
Editor’s note: This is the seventh of an eight-part series about the climate and biodiversity crises. John Keeble is a former Guardian and London Evening News journalist. He is part of Cuenca’s thriving hiking, cycling and writing communities. You can download free...
By R.S. Gompertz The town of Puno, Peru is perched at 3,800 meters (12,500 feet) and is shaped like a steep funnel that drains into Lake Titicaca. In early February, mid-summer in the Andes, an ancient, pre-Columbian festival takes place to honor Pachamama, the earth...
By Robert Bradley Matthew Blau’s EAT has relocated to Calle Honorato Vasquez and the fixin's are better than ever. Formerly located in the old Castle complex on Paseo tres de Noviembre, EAT is now cheek-to-jowl with other fine restaurants on what some gringos refer to...
Editor’s note: This is the sixth of an eight-part series about the climate and biodiversity crises. John Keeble is a former Guardian and London Evening News journalist. He is part of Cuenca’s thriving hiking, cycling and writing communities. You can download free his...
I recall almost every detail of my father’s ancestral home in Mendoza, in the wine country of northwestern Argentina. The layout, the tile, the woodwork, the planters — even the service quarters with giant sinks for hand washing clothes — remain vivid in my mind. But...
