Ten years ago, my wife and I spent the New Year's break with several friends renting a cottage on the coast of Orava Lake in Slovakia. Nights we spent around a fire place, chatting; days we spent in...
Blog
Various ventures into Mr. Scott’s mind.
New Year’s Eve, Berlin
New Year's Eve of 1998 I was in Berlin, and I counted down the seconds to 1999 with several thousand others at the Brandenberg Gate.
Winter Afternoon Walk
When the sun is out and everything is white, it's impossible to resist the call for a walk in the snow.
Blizzard
It snows often in Poland. Sometimes, though, it really snows.
Pageant
Students in our small village high school put on a small Christmas pageant every year.
Photographer
As Christmas drew to a close, my not-yet-wife-nor-even-yet-engaged and I took a walk in the frigid winter weather. It was around -35 Celsius if memory serves -- quite cold, quite cold.
Returning Home
With temperatures during the winter never really rising above freezing in the mountains of southern Poland, early snowfall only serves as the foundation for later snowfall. In the end, the fields...
Countryside Church
Merry Christmas to all -- and if you don't celebrate Christmas, enjoy this beautiful day with your family.
Christmas Eve Dinner
The Polish Christmas Eve dinner -- Wigilia, which is Polish for "vigil" -- was always the highlight of the year for me when I lived in Poland. An evening of quiet reflection, good food, and joyful...
Christmas Eve Dinner Preparation
Christmas Eve dinner is a big deal in Poland. This was the main course -- trout -- in 2002.
Krakow Rynek
The rynek -- market square -- of Krakow is always a great place for a stroll in the days leading up to Christmas. The decorations are lovely, there are venders selling all sorts of holiday treats,...
Decorating for Christmas
This was the main shop where I purchased most of my groceries. Part of a building that also housed the local fire department, it had recently been remodeled but the owners hadn't waited for the...
Winter Walk
Though the snow falls and temperatures reach -10 and below, work continues in rural Poland.
Eighth Grade Shakespeare
Shakespeare is a challenge to our modern ears, no doubt about it. Even the most knowledgeable experts require a line or two of a performance to settle in to the poetry. In my experience, it takes me...
Introducing Shakespeare
We shove the desks to the walls and create an enormous open space in the classroom. Forming a circle, we begin reading in unison: Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay...