how do I get there? Creating something new is hard. Can I protect myself from those telling me it can't be done? It hurts when they point out, rightly or wrongly, that I don't have what it takes to see it through, that the obstacles are too great, that my skills, my plan, or my temperament is not up to the job. And how do I defend myself when I agree with the critics or when I'm the toughest critic of all? If I listen too closely, I might give up. If I don't listen at all, I might miss what...

what is a reflection worth? A trick of the light, a shadow, a memory. It isn’t real. It’s distorted and backwards…a mystery. Why look at ghosts? Why look back when the future lies ahead? Good question. Perhaps finding truth requires more than a single perspective? I can’t see myself without a mirror. I can’t understand someone else without hearing thir stories, questioning their actions, and imagining myself in their place like a mirror. A reflection isn’t perfect but it does reveal....

back to the beginning… My family left Philadelphia to live in Alaska in 1970. Today I’m visiting Philly and for the moment sitting under a birch tree to admire it’s latest green outfit. Childhood memories painted this downtown in black and white, thick with grime, larger than a monster movie, darker than a noir crime story. But childhood memories didn’t include this quiet corner of downtown under a tree. Nature lives here. And urban decay happens even in Alaska. It’s up to us, wherever we...