How timely was AMERICA WAS HARD TO FIND? It was published on May 14, 2019 and the 50TH anniversary of the Apollo 11 Mission was July 20, 1969. One of the main characters is a fictitious NASA astronaut who took … Read more...
Book Review: AMERICAN DIRT by Jeanine Cummins
I am SO fortunate to have gotten my hands on AMERICAN DIRT by Jeanine Cummins in advance of publication (thanks to my book angel). It was THE way to wind down the reading year: to be totally absorbed in a … Read more...
Happy Labor Day’s 125th Anniversary
As a national holiday, Labor Day turns 125 years old in the US this year.
There was already a legal holiday in September commemorating Labor day in 23 states when President Grover Cleveland signed the national Labor Day legislation into … Read more...
Words: “The World Of The Individual Person…”
Recently, Pew Research asked thousands of Americans where they find meaning in life. Instead of presenting group responses, they highlighted the wonderful responses and stories from the world of the individual person. It reminded me that:
Everything of value … Read more...
Book Review: GOOD MORNING, MIDNIGHT by Lily Brooks-Dalton
I loved GOOD MORNING, MIDNIGHT by Lily Brooks-Dalton – which surprised me, since this novel was billed as a post-apocalyptic story. I have read only a handful of such stories and warmed only slightly to them (The Age of Miracles, … Read more...
Fast Facts on Hurricanes
The month of September is peak hurricane season. The Atlantic Hurricane season is June 1st through November 30th. So as Florence makes her way slowly down the Atlantic coast, it seemed a good time to compile some fast facts on … Read more...
Then The Giant Wasps Came
The odds were running high against the young Kohlrabi plants from the start. They were an impulse buy spurred on by my childhood memories of eating them raw and fresh peeled from my grandmother’s garden. I love Kohlrabi’s sweet cabbagey … Read more...
Forget Their Shoes — Ask and Listen!
The often quoted standard procedure for gaining empathy and understanding is to imagine ourselves in another person’s shoes. But recent research by Tal Eyal, Mary Steffel, & Nicholas Epley (2018) suggests that stepping into another’s shoes and taking their perspective … Read more...
Here’s To Your Liberty And Mine
While your liberty and mine can take many different forms, may we ever embrace and strive towards an ideal of liberty where all people have the right, the power, and the ability to choose…
… Read more...“Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according
FDR’s Words: ” Forests Are The Lungs Of Our Land “
The Dust Bowl was the worst drought in U.S. history, covering more than 75 percent of the country and affecting 27 states severely. The drought lasted nearly a decade, from 1930-1939. It’s impacts lasted decades longer. Topsoil from the … Read more...
Words To Live By: “Nature Brings Solace In All Troubles”
Within her diary, first published as THE SECRET ANNEX and later published as THE DIARY OF A YOUNG GIRL, Anne Frank expresses her belief in the healing power of nature — “amidst the simple beauty of nature…will always be comfort … Read more...
Pondering The Possibilities: Repeal of Whopper Neutrality
Have you heard of “Net Neutrality”? What about “Whopper Neutrality”?
Back in December of 2017, the Federal Communications Commission voted to overturn regulations mandating net neutrality. Net Neutrality was one of those things that too many of us took for … Read more...
Book Review: THE FIRE BY NIGHT by Teresa Messineo
There is something about THE FIRE BY NIGHT by Teresa Messineo that packs a big punch. Perhaps it’s the reality of nurses who volunteered to serve during the war and who were put into the same horrific, life-threatening predicaments as … Read more...
Words: “… The Doctrine Of The Manyness Of Reality”
We all agree that truth matters, but how do we become honest critics of truth? How do we create meaningful change without a full and honest view of the problem? How do we reach consensus for meaningful action if we … Read more...
Lost & Found News: Galaxies, Whale Dung, Unicorns, & Wild Horses
Lost: Carl Sagan’s Billions; Earth’s Little Blue Orb
Found: The Universe Has Two Trillion Galaxies
Back in the 1980’s, Carl Sagan captured the publics imagination with his talk of the Universe’s Billions. Now, based on images collected over 20 years … Read more...
Words: “I Am Not Simply A Story-teller …”
One of my goals in starting BELOW THE SALT NEWS was to explore the power and possibilities of stories and storytellers to create change.
Whether the story is based in fact or fantasy; whether it is told through art, invention, … Read more...
Movie: (DIS) HONESTY — The Truth About Lies
We all love a good story about the rise and fall of an unworthy person. It is the stuff of history, fiction and our daily news. Of course, the bigger the rise, the better the fall. Right?
But what if … Read more...
Book: FALLEN LAND by Taylor Brown
"big-in-heart debut novel... poetic and evocative"
If you appreciate a sense of place and lush descriptions of the natural world (and, in this case, its devastating destruction by men in battle), FALLEN LAND by Taylor Brown is for you. I … Read more...
Book: ALL THAT IS SOLID MELTS INTO AIR by Darragh McKeon
Wow. ALL THAT IS SOLID MELTS INTO AIR by Darragh McKeon was an incredible read: lush, lyrical prose on a sentence-by-sentence level, with breathtaking imagery and description. The stories of the four main characters were introduced separately but woven together … Read more...
Movie: UnBRANDED
From beginning to end, Unbranded is a wild ride. It is exactly what you would expect when you take a 3,000 mile journey from Mexico to Canada across the rugged public lands of the American west with four not-yet-ready-to-settle-down men … Read more...
Pondering Possibilities: Embracing Ridiculous
If “possibilities are endless,” where and how will we find them? And when should we stop looking?
I wonder, because lately it feels as if too many of us stop looking for possibilities. We’ve settled for what is and handed … Read more...
Words: “The Greatest Lessons You Teach Us…”
“Education” has almost become a byword for all that is wrong in the U.S. While most people agree our education system is broken, we can’t seem to agree on the “real” problems or what to do to fix them. So … Read more...
Pet Owners Against Daylight Saving Time — Unite!
In all the discussions about the pros and cons of Daylight Saving Time, I have yet to hear anyone address the most compelling reason of all for getting rid of Daylight Saving Time — our pets.
In the U.S. alone, … Read more...
President Lincoln, Inventor and Proponent of Wind Power
In 1849, Abraham Lincoln conceived of and successfully patented a system of air chambers and bellows to lift boats over shoals and obstructions in a river. As a U.S. Congressman (House of Representatives 1847-1849), Lincoln was a frequent boat traveler … Read more...
Words: “Trust is the conduit for influence …”
Amy Cuddy is famous for her research recognizing how our body language sends messages not just to others, but to ourselves. “Power posing” in private for 5 minutes changes our body chemistry and can do more to boost … Read more...