Home.
Is it me or did the end of 2022 come and go with a quickness? One moment I was back in my hometown with family I hadn’t seen in years and in a flash, I was feasting with my small family in Chicago. So in …
Tag: curiositycabinet
Epistle from the Black Garden
Intentional.
To kick off the new year, my friends at PostScript asked me to be their guest writer for their lovely blog, In the Loop. This month’s theme is coffee but I was encouraged to write about anything so I did both.
If you’re interested in the post, it’s here. Don’t forget the coffee!
Fairy Tales
Like most people, the fairy tales read to me were the mostly sweet versions. Sure, women were hexed by nefarious enemies, harassed by wicked step-relatives, or resigned to a permanent dormant state with the bite of a crimson apple. Overall, though, they ended with our …
Paella, Part Two?
Many moons ago, I spent a few glorious weeks in Spain and I tasted everything I could imagine. I mean everything. I could write a book on the dishes and drinks I enjoyed, each day brought one revelation after another. When I think of that …
It’s a WONDERful Life
“There’s beauty in the day. There’s beauty in the night.” ~ Claudette Dudley
Living a life of wonder seems to be a good bet: an interesting corner, path, neighborhood, town, or city— wonder leads to wandering that often leads to something quite magical.
Here’s to wonderment!
Bubbles in Chicago
Ain’t life grand? In the image above, a boy and his bubble are captured by photographer, Marvin E. Newman, in 1950s Chicago. Immediately coming to mind at first glance was the moment of both intention and anticipation: chewing the gum so one can blow a …
Creativity
This month the Black Garden co-sponsored a monthlong film festival by the nonprofit, HotHouse, featuring Afro-Cuban women. Each documentary highlighted a different woman’s story and I was reminded once again that not all stories are told and certain ones are perennially left out of history.
I had my notebook to jot down points to introduce as prompts later in the school year. Without realizing it, I started scribbling and sketching ideas while watching these films, called to it like a love language flowing from lips you’re eager to hear. Does creativity fuel others’ creativity? Emphatically yes.
This month was packed with images. During October, a month I especially associate with harvests, I revisited Julie Dash’s beautiful film, ”Daughters of the Dust”, filled with the stories of the Gullah/Geechee women on Saint Helena Island.
These yellow leaves on the screen and in this downtown garden frame these beautiful stories. Whether in South Carolina (Georgia!) or Chicago, listening to the shimmering leaves rewards the listener. So many stories, so much life.
Italian Hours
As a kid, traveling meant using every single mode of transportation and exploring both the new and familiar. We were just as likely to visit the other side of the city where we were living as we were to be in San Francisco, Venezuela, Boston, …
