à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Camino de Santiago
A Pilgrim Goes “Royal”
Arab men fill the airy and glass-walled lobby of the Royal Rimonim Hotel. They sit on upholstered chairs around low tables and play cards at this gleaming tower along the shore of Israel’s Dead Sea. Some rotate rosaries through fidgety fingers. Women in diaphanous white head scarves and black outfits cluster around other tables, drinking … Continue reading
Quoth the Maven, “Yelp No More.”
I wrote my first Yelp review in November 2007. I had such a disappointing experience at a reputable frame shop near Boston that I needed to – politely – let off steam. I penned a second review of another business a few months later. But my Yelping didn’t take off in earnest until I was … Continue reading
Taking Stock at the Stock Show
For a few weeks every January, the Denver Coliseum hosts the National Western Stock Show, a celebration of livestock and the men, women and children who tend them. When I first moved here, the event sparked both curiosity and aversion. Having never been to a stock show, I wondered what it was all about. At … Continue reading
Born Again. Die Again. Repeat.
The Camino offered opportunities to experience the full arc of a day, a subtle but profound satisfaction I’ve been missing. When I began the pilgrimage in early October, the sun didn’t rise until after 8 a.m. That it was still dark so “late” was, at first, disconcerting but it meant I was already moving when … Continue reading
Can I Talk My Walk?
In our talkative culture, there appear to be many people who repeatedly say they are going to do something, or frequently verbalize frustration with a situation, yet who don’t translate their words into action. Their well-meaning (or fed up) friends might prod them to “walk their talk” rather than continue harping about whatever it is. … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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