Early in the morning of May 10, 1940 a young Belgian family was getting ready to catch a train. They lived in Antwerp and were headed to Paris for a family wedding. The small family was my grandfather, grandmother, father and aunt. My dad was 12 years old that morning and obsessed with airplanes. He could identify anything. My grandfather was at the sink shaving when my dad raced in shouting, “Dad, Dad — those are German planes!” Although my grandfather at first did not believe … View Post

A community is the mental and spiritual condition of knowing that the place is shared, and that the people who share the place define and limit the possibilities of each other’s lives. It is the knowledge that people have of each other, their concern for each other, their trust in each other, the freedom with which they come and go among themselves. ~Wendell Berry Our abiding love for Brooklyn Tweed is well-documented. BT is a company that upholds the very definition of what it means to create community, … View Post

The world continues to spin with all of its many demands on our time, challenges to our spirit and opportunities for growth. This time of year can be particularly full as we work to keep connected with our creative life in the midst of offering support and care to those around us. It feels particularly apt, then, to take a moment to celebrate the respite from our busy lives that Squam offers. Below, we reflect on the beauty, light, laughter and FUN of our last two gatherings of 2016. … View Post

You have your own note to sound, and you are sounding it with greater power and beauty all the time.”  Ursula Nordstrom There really isn’t anything more challenging in this world then to share with the world who we truly are. For many of us, this is the work of a lifetime. For some, it’s just too overwhelming to be that vulnerable. And then, for those rare few — there is nothing holding them back from full personal expression. If you are somewhere in the middle … View Post