Those of us decrying the end of the American republic (and we’ve always been the numerical majority) can take comfort in the knowledge that that republic had not been around for very long. The United States might be approaching 250 years old, but the “republic for which it stands,” the one for which the majority of us believe that “all men (and […]

I’ve not watched any of my usual news programs since November 6th. Liberals have proven themselves to be both naïve and feckless. No one can know what the first day of the Dark Ages must have felt like, including those living at the time. But we have the perspective of history to help us know […]

  It is sadly more than coincidence that my last blog dealt enthusiastically with a town in Spain that has now become part of the recent devastation in that region as a result of apocalyptic rains and flash flooding.   Reports of inundating flooding with almost no warning and as much rainfall in eight hours […]

  As we drove farther up the slope from downtown Nerja to our apartment for the next stay of our Andalucian road trip, one thing was becoming disturbingly clearer: things like cafes, restaurants and especially grocery stores with a wine aisle were rapidly disappearing altogether. The little hideaway bungalow that would shield us from the […]

  After departing Estepona, we stopped for our first fill up with the Fiat Cuisinart that we’d rented. Mind you, if a couple of thieves just picked the entire little dude up and carried it away, it might set you back as much as a two-stage snow blower, yet the car came with a key locked gas cap whose […]

  We were not able to reserve our little hacienda away from home for four consecutive weeks here in Rota. So, after much discussion (Carol: “We’re renting a car and taking a road trip!” she explained) we mutually agreed to rent a car and take a road trip.   Carol found a cheap car rental […]

 The other day I checked my daily diary on this trip and there are a lot of missing entries. I’m so happy. You see, this whole return to Rota was all about living the local life here. If my notes were filled with the events of every day, then this would only be just another […]

  And when I talk about Rota as a Paradise Found, I do not mean to include some of the descriptives that are to follow.  Call it just a happy accident, or maybe an arrested adolescent’s male fantasy come true.   But there are bare boobies at the beach in Rota. Carol was the one who pointed […]

  I was going to tell the story of our return trip to Rota chronologically. But since my objective in the return was to recapitulate my life at home – that would be: reading, writing and …well, watching baseball (at home) but staring blankly at the Atlantic Ocean (here) – such a simple (and boring) […]

  A case can now be made that Carol is a slip-and-fall attorney’s dream. Back in Lyon during our first trip together (is that when I should have started thinking about travel insurance?) she had an epic heels-over-head tumble as she left our restaurant and started home in a drizzly French rain that turned those ancient tiled […]