BARCELONA – When you finish climbing the long, winding road, through the leafiest, most affluent area of Barcelona, you’re rewarded at the summit with the most spectacular view of the elegant Spanish city. Look east, over the miles of magnificent architecture and across the sparkling blue Mediterranean. Breathe in the clean, salty air, marvel at…

NORTH KINGSTOWN, RI – Winston Churchill once famously said that there’s something about the outside of a horse that’s good for the inside of a human. He’s right, of course, as anyone who’s spent time with horses will attest. Sometimes, though, well-intentioned people buy horses and later discover that the cost and commitment to caring…

BUDAPEST – When I first visited Noé Állatotthon Alapítvány (Hungarian for Noah’s Ark Animal Shelter) on the outskirts of Budapest in June 2014, I was pleasantly surprised and a bit awestruck by the sheer numbers and varieties of animals whom the small staff care for on their few acres of land. It is a monumental…

Saqqara, Egypt — May 2008 The first thing I noticed when our tour bus pulled into the parking area at Saqqara, on the outskirts of Cairo, was not the glut of tourists. It wasn’t the noxious odor of diesel fuel from the dozens of other busses crammed side-by-side, nor the choking clouds of sandy dust they kicked up.…

The tiny Chesapeake Bay retriever puppy was the rich color of a warm spice, so, we decided to give him its name: Nutmeg. He was my family’s first pet, and though we had no way of knowing when we brought him home for the first time, Nutmeg’s would be a short and difficult life. Nutmeg was…