The Alhambra -Seen from the Generalife

The focal point of our "Andalucian Odyssey" trip to Morocco and Spain in January 2011 was to be the Alhambra (al-Hamra' in Arabic). This fabled, mystical city was the center of the Nasrid Empire during Islamic rule in the Iberian peninsula. The gardens are watered through aqueducts that bring snow-melt down from the Sierra Nevada, to the south-east of the city. We had read the descriptions on-line of the Alhambra, and the passages in Philippa Gregory's "The Constant Princes" that show what the Infanta - the Princess Catalina (Catherine) who was betrothed to Prince Arthur of England - experienced during her parents' capture of the city from the Moors. Doug had also read "Tales of the Alhambra" by Washington Irving which describe his experiences living there in the 1800s, and which relate many of the tales (whether real or mythical) that he learned during his sojourn.

We spent the day wandering around the beautiful gardens, courts and rooms of the Alhambra - the Court of the Lions was under renovation (much to our disappointment) - the Court of the Myrtles, the Lindaraha, the Queen's Dressing Room, and the Princesses Tower. Then across a small valley to the Generalife, the pleasure gardens that the rulers retired to when wishing to escape the pressures of daily political life. As in every other garden throughout the Alhambra complex, running water kept up a ceaseless bubble that relaxed and soothed the spirit.

Leaving the palace complex, we descended a path through the quiet "Alhambra Gardens" and out through the Pomegranate Gate, and back into the city with its bustling traffic and frantic sellers, students, and businessmen hurrying along with their petty, unseeing affairs. In the meantime, however, our eyes had been opened, and our souls washed by the calmness and quiet of a by-gone era, an era that lives on in one small spot on earth, and now, also, in our own hearts and minds.

The Rock of Gibraltar

On January 15, 2011, Vivian and Doug went to Gibraltar. We decided to climb the Rock. At first this seemed to be quite daunting; however, when we looked at the cost of the cable car ride (26Euro, each) or the guided bus tour (25Euro, each), we decided we could do it on foot, and save over 100US$.

In all, we spent 5 hours climbing up, and 2 coming down. In the meantime, we had the freedom to stay as long as we wished at any spot that attracted us, and even saw things that the tour would not have allowed us to see.

It is no exaggeration to say that this was the high point (yes, pun intended) of our trip. Not only was it physically invigoration, but spiritually rewarding as well.

Of course, we did stop at the usual touristic points, and they were of interest. The views, however, and the scenery and vegetation are what most impressed us, and will remain the most vivid memory of this climb.

Mushrooms - Fresh and Organic

Doug and Todd Harvesting Mushrooms

Fresh Mushrooms, Organic and safe to eat - this is part of the blessing that Crystal Ridge offers. Along with squash, herbs, and - next year - apples, we may be able to Market "CROP" (Crystal Ridge Organic Produce) to neighbors and friends.

Crystal Ridge Spirit

Doug Enjoys reading - Su Shu the "Four Classics"

Crystal Ridge inspires spiritual inquiry. The "Four Books" Su Shu of the Chinese Classics allow Doug and Vivian to discover new interaction between human, nature, and spirit amid the magical surroundings.
The "Four Books" include the following:
The Great Learning
Doctrine of the Mean
The Confucian (Kong Tzu) Analects
The Sayings of Mencius (Meng Tzu)

Although most of the sayings, comments, and philosophy are related to Confucius, they all relate to the Dao De - the "Way of Power" Classic that was composed by Lao Tzu about 500 years BC.
When we are not working around the house, or on the land, in the garden, we enjoy reading.

View from Crystal Ridge, over the lake, with fall foliage.
The changing seasons each have their blessings.

This past year has seen us busy completing exterior work on the house - a stone front wall and stone pavers on the porch and stairs. With the help of our carpenter-friend, Todd, we have used both native stones and composit commercial stones.

February and Libraries

March 16, 2010,

Do you rue the loss of February?
Has the Library been buried?

American English is one of the fastest changing languages in the world. Unlike French, with its Academie, or British English, with its prestigious universities of Oxford and Cambridge, US English has no official organization that decides what "proper" English should be.

The closest thing to an arbiter of language in the US is national network and cable news. When Murrow, Cronkite or Brokaw spoke, they gave a level of authority to what was considered the "best form" of American English.

But, with the loss of these national Titans, and with the proliferation of 24-hours-a-day cable news and its ever-changing faces, there is no longer any nationally recognized paragon of "prescriptive English" - as opposed to "descriptive English" - that we can reliably refer to.

So, we come to the questions of February and the library.

February is almost everywhere now pronounced as "feb-YOU-ary" rather than "feb-RU-ary."

Likewise, now if you wish to borrow a book, you more often say you are going the the "li-BURY" rather than to the "lib-RARE-y."

It is not just in pronunciation, however, that US English as become less prescriptive. For many years i taught English to non-native speakers - both as a foreign language overseas, as well as a second language in the United States.

One of the most important lessons was on the distinction between "lie" and "lay," between "rise" and "raise," and between "sit" and "set."
"The papers lie on the table," vs. "I lay the papers on the table."
"I rise every morning," vs. "I raise my head every morning."
"The books sit on the shelf," vs. "I set the books on the shelf."

This distinction between "intransitive" and "transitive" verbs is only one area in which grammar keeps a distinction between words, while practice blurs the difference.

The distinction between "I" and "me" and between "he" and "him" or "she" and "her" also seems to have vanished in public usage, and the "subject" and "object" pronouns have been melded into complete interchangeability.
"He and I went," vs. what is often heard, "Him and me went."
"They will bring her and me," vs. what is heard, "Them will bring her and I."

One more: there is the sticky issue of using "a little" or "a few."
"there was a little rain," and "There were a few drops of rain."

When I was a child, my father was a stickler for "proper" English usage. I remember, at the age of about five, hearing him lecturing on the distinction between "I did," and "I have done."

He was a strong advocate of "prescriptive" English: the exact adherence to the "rules." He often explained that his interest in the rules of language was no doubt due to his having been brought up in an age (the early 1900s) when schools routinely taught Latin. As Latin was considered a "dead language," its rules were immutable, and were thus applied to English grammar as an ideal of what language should be.

Due to the current shift in US English usage, it is often only university students who are now expected to follow English language rules when they suddenly become aware of them at the time they are given copies of either Kate Turabian or the "Chicago Manual of Style" to prepare their theses or dissertations.

It is interesting to note that, as English is now becoming (if it has not already become) the principal language of international communication, it is this very flexibility that makes it so adaptive and so applicable across cultures and fields of study or endeavor.

The old saying that, "The Americans and the British are divided by a common language," is not only truer now that it ever has been, but the saying is perhaps the best future for this very assimilative, adaptive, and flexible language.

So whatever you say is the shortest month, or wherever you go to borrow your books, you can be sure that whomever you speak with (oops! I almost wrote "whoever") will still understand - although not always approve of - what you are saying.

Ken Follett - "The Pillars of the Earth"

Can a cathedral be the inspirational hero of a novel? Perhaps, if not the hero itself, it can be the setting that frames the lives of several heroes.

Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth chronicles the lives of three generations of men and women who helped build a cathedral in the fictional town of Kingsbridge in 12^th century England, during the first 100 years following the Norman Conquest.

Tom, the skilled, but unemployed master builder, penniless and starving with his family wandering the countryside looking for work, obtains the commission to build the cathedral.

Aliana, the daughter of an earl who is dispossessed of his estates during the Anarchy - the civil war that raged between King Stephen and his challenger for the throne, King Henry the Second – survives rape and inspires others by her fierce independence.

Jack, a precocious but wild boy who grows up as an outlaw in the forests, becomes the master builder and continues the cathedral following the killing of Tom.

Ellen, the beautiful, wild woman of the forest (Jack’s mother) whom the monks believe is a witch, holds the other characters together despite her disdain for all ecclesiastic rules.

Phillip, the Prior of Kingsbridge Monastery, ties all of the characters together, and, if anyone, is the central hero.

Nathaniel, Tom’s son, is abandoned when his mother dies during childbirth, starving by the side of the road. He is rescued by Prior Phillip and eventually becomes Prior of Kingsbridge when Phillip is elevated to Bishop.

Although these individuals all exhibit a deep love for humanity – each in a unique way – they appear real through their individual weaknesses and foibles as they struggle against the lawlessness of the Anarchy in which royal, civil, and ecclesiastic leaders wield unrestrained power while contesting each other for total control over the lives of the ordinary citizenry.

The characters interact with various points in history, including the battle in Lincoln, the struggle between King Henry II and the Archbishop of Canterbury, and Thomas Becket’s murder.

Through all their trials and triumphs – the Cathedral is eventually built, and Aliana is restored to her father’s property – the characters in this novel have the unique ability to create an atmosphere which inspires the reader’s spirit as well as entertains the mind.

More information about Ken Follett and “The Pillars of the Earth” may be found on his web site at www.ken-follett.com/

Cafe Vienna

The past few days have been full of snow, wind, and drifts, and so we have taken time to review our photo albums and recall past trips and experiences. Our visit to Vienna in 2000 is a particularly fond memory.

"Cafe Terrace at Night," Vincent van Gogh, 1888

Cafe Vienna
(Tune from "Adult All-in-One Course-Level 1"

Soft and quiet, in the moonlight,
With the starlight above us;
Sitting with you, by the candles,
All around us is music.
When you listen, you can hear it,
Soaring high, signing deeply;
In your eyes, Dear, shines the love-light
That forever is clear.

Let's go dancing, let's go prancing,
Through the streets of the city;
Let's go singing, let's go ringing,
Let's run gaily through the town.
Glockenspiels chime, carolers all rhyme,
In traditional cadence;
Let us join voice and shout in glee,
With the immortal tunes.

Mozart's house, where in the attic,
He wrote spirit-filled sonnets;
In the park, by Ludwig's statue,
Let our hearts sing their praises,
By the Danube, Opera Platz,
There are mem'ries so precious;
But the best, Dear, is right here, Dear:
You, and Cafe Vienna,

Lyrics (c) Doug Ewing
04 December 2009

This tune, and these lyrics, recall our one-day visit to Vienna on November 27, 2000, during which we literally "ran through the town," in order to see as much as possible. The places mentioned are still fresh and vivid in our memory. The painting by van Gogh particularly inspires our feelings.

Alpine Melody Lyrics

Crystal Ridge in Fall

Music that moves us needs lyrics to complement it.
As Vivian practices the piano, I write lyrics. You may listen to the tune for "Alpine Melody" by searching in YouTube.

Alpine Melody
(Tune from "Adult All-in-One Course - Level 1)


Yodels echo, 'tween the hills,
Lea and dale - stream and vale;
Let's go hiking, singing clear,
Alpine melodies.

Morning fog cloaks beast and man,
In embrace - mystery;
Tinkling cow bells pierce the dawn,
Cow herds trudge along.

Deer and vixen scurry past,
To their lairs - there to fast
'Till at noontime to emerge,
Foraging anew.

You and I enjoy this scene,
Stand in awe - calm - serene;
Then we wend our trail once more,
Humming Alpine tunes.

Lyrics (c) Doug Ewing
17 January 2010

At Crystal Ridge - our 15-acre retreat in the Catskill Mountains - we see scenes that inspire such thoughts. The fog and clear air evoke images of the European Alps.

Human Resiliance

15 January 2010
With all of my continuing concern for individuals around the world who are frustrated by governments and constrained by occupations, I can not help paying attention to the massive suffering taking place in Haiti.
This morning on CNN, there was a news clip that showed Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who was reporting on the medical aspects of the devastation, caring for a 15-day-old baby with a head wound.
Immediately my mind returned to a time 50 years ago when I had witnessed a doctor caring for a newborn in the tiny village of Idna just outside Hebron in Palestine. The baby had been delivered with the umbilical cord wrapped around its neck, and as the World Council of Churches doctor was in the village for the weekly "Clinic Day," relatives had summoned him to care for the mother and her newborn.
This was one of the life-changing moments as I, a naive 23-year-old, stood outside the door of the house and experienced for the first time in my life the strength that exists in the frail collection of plasma and electrical impulses that we call our human existence.
Today, seeing the care that Dr. Gupta gave to the baby in Haiti, and watching the following CNN report about the US grad student who was studying in Haiti and had lost her leg, confirmed to me - again - that hope is not a cliche, but a real and tangible part of our cosmic essence. (DE)

Bird in Grand Central Terminal

14 January 2010
Last night upon entering Grand Central Terminal, I noticed a bird, probably a pigeon, flying around the long entry passage. I then composed the following on the train going home.

Bird in Grand Central Terminal

He flutters 'round these teeming halls,
'Mid glaring lights and marble walls,
No exit is there for his plight,
No ledge for rest from weary flight.

What is this cave where, captive held,
A strange location gives no ease
From flapping wing and soaring route
To find an out, in vain pursuit.

Below him, on the trampled floor,
We, likewise, wend at homeward hour,
And blindly follow well worn ways:
Our daily flights, our routine paths.

What cause doth make us both, as one -
The bird above, and man below?
Until each finds, by chance, the way
To freedom from a fruitless flapping.

But lest our lives be futile toil,

Let's blessings find in fertile soil;

So, like the bird, we give our all
To spend our lives as spirit-led.

Not mere subsisting - flesh and blood -
To stumble blind, in endless rut,
But aiming past our earthly cells
To live, in essence, for our goals.

(c) Doug Ewing
13 January 2010

A New Visitor in Our Home

12 January 2010
Last night we welcomed a new visitor to our home.
We have been hosting international visitors and interns for more than5 years. Over this time, we have made many new friends and learned about distant countries and cultures - some of which we have been able to visit ourselves.
Currently, we have with us individuals from France, India, Japan, Philippines, Switzerland, and Florida.
FLORIDA??!! Yes, and in this bitter winter weather, Florida may seem like a foreign nation.
In total, we have had guests from over 60 different countries, as well as many US states. They come as IBM or PepsiCo interns, UN Mission employees, airline company executives, physical therapists, or tennis instructors.
Truly a variegated amalgam, suited to our own eclectic tastes. We look forward to welcoming many more.

The Lost Symbol - Dan Brown

Vivian and I just finished reading Dan Brown's latest Robert Langdon thriller, the Lost Symbol.
I did not enjoy it as much as the DaVinci Code, or even his earlier Angels and Demons.
For the first 4/5th or so of the book it was the expected "pot boiler," but after the character Mal'akh dies, it became ONLY an investigation on the spirituality of human nature.
Of course, we are very interested in the spirituality and philosophical aspects of Brown's writing and we continued to be spell-bound as he unravels the hidden nature of the universe.
However, as a literary work, I feel that the book was not well-crafted. In a well-crafted novel, I would expect ALL elements of the story to continue in full suspense up to the denuement, and then come quickly to the end.
Nevertheless, because we are interested in the spiritual or philosophic aspects of the books we read, we were not disappointed. But we feel that readers who want only the physical adventure may be.
Doug

Introduction to FuEwingBlog

8 January 2010.
This is my initial blog. We are Doug Ewing and Vivian Fu. Our interests are eclectic, and we will be blogging about any number of topics which interest us. We hope that you will find interest in one, or more, of the topics which we will discuss. Some of these topics are:
- Spirituality - either through established religions, or other, spiritual or philosophic avenues. One example would be the writings of Depak Chopra.
- Middle East Peace - Isreal-Palestine Relations, the people and their aspirations.
- Historical Novels - Tudor England, Revolutionary or Civil War America.
- Adventure Novels - such as from Dan Brown, which ties back to our interest in spirituality and the verbal or artifact symbols associated with the stories.
Underlying these interests, and the people we meet while pursuing these interests, is the quotation from Gandhi, "Peace is not the goal, it is the way."