In Honor of the 400th Anniversary of Shakespeare's Sonnets

On April 20, 1609, a publisher called Thomas Thorpe entered in the Stationers' Register his right to publish “a booke called Shakespeares sonnettes”. The Shakespearean sonnet is one of my favorite forms of poetry with its rhyme scheme of abab cdcd efef gg. In honor of the day I am sharing one of my original sonnets with you. It's inspired by my sojourn in Saudi Arabia and my impending 50th birthday! I invite you to write a sonnet of your own or share one of your favorites below in the comments!

Click here to read the rest!

Call to Prayer

Although I am thrilled to be returning to the States, there are a few things I will certainly miss. This is a picture I took from the roof of our building here in the Diplomatic Quarter in Riyadh. The building you see in front is a mosque. Every morning about sunrise (and 5 times throughout the day) the call to prayer echoes from the top of the spire and from another mosque nearby. I'm really going to miss the beautiful haunting quality of the muezzin's voice as he chants the Arabic invitation, "Make haste towards prayer." (Listen to the adhan here.) Each one has a distinctive voice, and you can often hear two or three voices blending if you are within the sound of several minarets. This has been the start of my day for 8 months now, and it helps me to remember to turn my thoughts toward the Divine each day as I awaken.