by Bernadette Nason | Dec 2, 2013 | Uncategorized
Many of you know that I worked at the Jebel Ali Hotel, just outside of Dubai City in the UAE from 1987 to 1989. And last year, I mentioned in my December blogging the brilliant Christmas decorations in the hotel lobby. Here is a December 1987 picture of the...
by Bernadette Nason | Dec 1, 2013 | Uncategorized
For the first day of advent, here is my favorite childhood English carol. I’ve come to enjoy the American tune as well but this is the original for me so I thought I’d share it with you. AWAY IN A MANGER Away in a manger,No crib for His bedThe little Lord JesusLaid...
by Bernadette Nason | Nov 27, 2013 | Uncategorized
As you probably know, Thanksgiving is not celebrated in England. O. Henry loves to tell people – it is a “purely American” holiday. The English do, however, celebrate Harvest Festival. Of course, we’ve given thanks for successful harvests since pagan times – the...
by Bernadette Nason | Nov 22, 2013 | Uncategorized
R.I.P. MISS DUBUISSON a.k.a. DOOBEY, DOOBS, THE DOOBSTER As Austin’s weather changes from autumn to winter; as freezing rain drips from the gutters and “that old north wind” blows the yellow leaves from our Texas ash, we mourn the tragic loss of Doobey, our precious...
by Bernadette Nason | Sep 30, 2013 | Uncategorized
Everything I am and everything I do, I am able to be and do because of my mother. I thank her every single day, but today, the 30th of September, I wish she were still on this earthly plane so that I could hug and thank her at the same time. Happy 88th Birthday,...
by Bernadette Nason | Sep 6, 2013 | Uncategorized
You may have heard that I finished my first draft of TEA IN TRIPOLI last weekend — 65,000 words of potential, just waiting for my twitchy fingers to create a fabulous second draft. Oh, but all those words wore out these fingers, and they are attached to exhausted...
by Bernadette Nason | Aug 15, 2013 | Uncategorized
I’d only vaguely heard of the National Storytelling Network in 2005 when my new friend Donna Ingham told me that there was to be a storytelling conference in Oklahoma City, OK. In a gesture of true mentor-ship, she offered to share her hotel room with this weird...
by Bernadette Nason | Jul 21, 2013 | Uncategorized
When I was at the store buying groceries which included a bottle of wine, the cashier asked to check my driving license. I don’t flatter myself that I’m being carded because I look under-age but it always makes me smile. The cashier, who couldn’t have been more than...
by Bernadette Nason | Jul 9, 2013 | Uncategorized
When you can’t speak the language or read the papers or mix with the locals or even walk the streets of the place you call home, it’s difficult to find out what’s going on around you. In such a closed world, hearsay and gossip are often all that’s available to keep...
by Bernadette Nason | Jun 3, 2013 | Uncategorized
As the mercury rises here in Austin, Texas, so the bugs are re-appearing. This morning, I heard movement in my waste paper basket and knew it was a cockroach. And there it was, big ol’ feelers waving in the air! Ugh! I was reminded of my first cockroach sighting...
