Dukkha Earl

When I was in my 20’s, it occurred to me that we, the human species, have failed in a big way to live up to our potential. We are gifted with an amazing ability to create, to heal, to build, to discover, to be kind, to be generous, to lift each other up and to…

I like to think of myself as the Clark Griswold of Halloween.  There’s no such thing as too many Halloween decorations.  And my house, which was built in 1903, is the perfect backdrop for ghosts, ghouls and skeletons.

Last week, the country lost a towering talent and the world lost a true friend.  Anthony Bourdain was much more than a television personality.  He was a gifted observer, a marvelous writer and despite his tough persona, a man who easily loved people for their core humanity.

Before I left on a trip Asia, a friend said to me, “I hope you find what you’re looking for.”  Wait…what?… am I looking for something?  In the past, I would have accepted the statement as a way of wishing me well on my journey and ignored the question it posed.  But over the last…

The sun was setting as I stood alone on the rooftop deck of a downtown hotel and looked out over the Cambodian capitol city Phnom Penh.  It was still hot as evening shadows began to fill the streets below and there was a gusty, unsettled wind that seemed to mirror my mood.  It had been…

The 20th annual plant giveaway will start in a few days.  There are about 1,500 tomato and pepper plants, over 50 varieties, in the final preparatory stage for pickup on Mother’s Day.  If they go as quickly this year as they have in the past, they will all be gone in three or four days.