Ben East Books

Author: Ben East

  • Indian Independence Day

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    Ben East
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    I’m used to hearing about my sideline activity: ‘Don’t quit yer day job!’ This performance, part of my official duties, speaks for itself: time to revisit the common wisdom about where to put my energies. That said, the team who put it all together have proven once again how talented they are at producing something…

  • Ben’s Franklins

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    Ben East
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    Micro-fiction channeling moments of truth. Walking the forests of the Shenandoah National Park last week, I thought about how I’d pass the days and weeks and months as a thru-hiker on the Appalachian Trail. One exercise I settled on for keeping sane step after step was to craft a 100-word story each day out there.…

  • Live on, Scarlet Tanager

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    Ben East
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    The Scarlet Tanager mostly hangs out in the upper canopy, making it a rare sighting for hikers in the Shenandoah National Park. This one visited us in the lower canopy, hunting insects for his mate or flashing his red plumage to make her love him. Mohan later rendered it in pen and color pencil. It…

  • Tke a Hke

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    Ben East
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    Sunny and seventies in the Blue Ridge Mountains these two weeks. We explored a range of trails, peaks, and falls in the Shenandoah National Park and beyond. We ascended to Hawksbill Peak, SNP’s highest point (4051); took in Jones Run and Doyles River Falls in a 5.3 mile outing; took the easy stroll to Dark…

  • Speaking of Tone-Lōc

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    Ben East
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    I haven’t thought about Tone-Lōc in years, but I woke up on Friday eager write about him. The next day, a horse called Medina Spirit won the Kentucky Derby. It so happens I’m also studying synchronicity right now. Here in Mumbai we’re living through our own Tone-Lōc moment, a sort of Tone-Lōc-down. It’s déjà vu…

  • The Longest Monday

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    Ben East
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    With all its cold, dark hours and lingering gloom at the start of the year, January might be called The Monday of Months. This year, many of our democratic traditions will be reflected in major events taking place during this long month of Mondays. The 117th U.S. Congress is sworn in today. A vote in…

  • Christmas Cream Cheese

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    Ben East
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    Candy cane cream cheese did not exist before today. Google the concept and see for yourself. The phrase turns up false narratives, like cream cheese cookies shaped like candy canes, or a candy cane-shaped Danish with cream cheese and cherry filling. Delicious, yes. But candy cane cream cheese? For a bagel? Nosir. Here’s our recipe.…

  • An Indian King from the East

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    Ben East
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    Every year brings new challenges to our myths. This year, astronomers turn our attention to the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn low in the night sky, an event said to have occurred two thousand and twenty years ago at the birth of Jesus Christ. The three wise men, we are made to understand, found…

  • Poe’s Pigeon: “Poop Galore”

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    Ben East
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    My son asks how my satire of The Raven is coming along. It’s stalled, I say, and explain the problem. The first seven stanzas, more than a third of the poem, have nothing to do with the bird. Yet the inspiration to write this satire flaps all around me, every day, unavoidable reminders of their own absurdity:…

  • Thanksgiving Hike

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    Ben East
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    We shook off the lingering Thanksgiving weekend with a sturdy hike today, climbing 1,100 feet to reach Karnala Fort. The climb passes through the Karnala Bird Sanctuary off highway 66 in Raigad, Maharashtra, home to some two hundred species of birds. We also spotted wood spiders, carpenter bees, termites, dragon flies, and cicadas, and saw…