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Travel Cultures Language

Blue Spaces Cure the Blues

by Joyce McGreevy on August 24, 2020

A blue lake under a blue sky, Elk Lake, Oregon, inspires the author to reflect on personal and cultural beliefs about water, including the blue mind and blue spaces theory. (Image © Rayna Bevando)

Celebrating Earth’s water can inspire us to find the flow in life.
© Rayna Bevando

Personal & Cultural Beliefs About Water

In this high-heat, high-stress summer, how are people finding relief? Emails from friends around the world offer a common response.

  • “. . .the great thing about the island is that you’re almost always in sight of the sea.” —Waiheke, New Zealand
  • “ . . .it’s cold getting in, but your body soon adjusts, and you feel your mood lifting with the waves.”—Cork, Ireland
  • “ . . .in the evenings, we stroll, following the flow of the Arno and stopping at bridges to admire the reflected city.”—Florence, Italy

Great Gardens of the World: Les Jardins d’Étretat

by Meredith Mullins on August 3, 2020

A UNESCO World Heritage view (and Monet’s favorite spot in Étretat)
© Meredith Mullins

A Nature Discovery with a View

Where am I?

Am I in Alice’s wonderland or a labyrinthian meditation garden? Am I dreaming that hedges are crashing like waves on the hillside, or am I lost in a fantasy tunnel of green?

Perhaps all of the above. Great gardens open doors to creative experiences.

Enchanted gardens inspire the imagination.
© Meredith Mullins

Gardens hide behind tiny doors or down Alice-discovered rabbit holes. They surprise us beyond dilapidated fences that seem to say “go farther only if you dare.” And they present magical mazes that offer the alluring puzzle of being lost in time and place.

Crossing Cultures in an Urban Garden

by Meredith Mullins on July 20, 2020

A cultural exchange via the sweet potato
© Meredith Mullins

A Tribute to Satsuma-imo: The Mighty Japanese Sweet Potato

“In Japan, in autumn, it is customary to collect fallen leaves, put sweet potatoes wrapped in aluminum foil in the leaves, and light the fallen leaves to bake them,” remembers Chiharu. “When I was a child I did this at my grandparents’ home. It was a special time of cooking and eating together.”

“Instead of ice cream trucks circling the neighborhoods to offer treats, we had stone-roasted sweet potato trucks,” says Midori of her childhood in Japan.

Stone roasted sweet potatoes
© iStock/kendoNice

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