culture — Blog — New Voodou

Lighting the way

Christmas stories and iconography are full of bright stars, yet there is comfort in the soft glow of the farolitos that dot the landscape and lead us gently to our destinations.

culture, placeNancy EganDecember 17, 2024Farolitos, Luminarias, Christmas lights, Santa Fe, Canyon Road, Candy Cane Lane, Christmas iconography, Christmas stories, small fires Comments

Abroad in Bordeaux

Bordeaux, with its elegant 18th buildings, open public squares, and bustling shopping streets, could not have been more different than the American West, nor more beguiling.

culture, identity, placeNancy EganAugust 18, 2024UC Education Abroad Program, Bordeaux, Universite de Bordeaux, University of California, Talence, Place de la Victoire, Pays Basque, Ascain, Mai 68, Lalande Wines, Rue Abbe de l'Epee, Rue Sainte Catherine, France Comments

Station Wagons and Me

After I moved back to Southern California from New York City, I took a quiz that said that my ideal car was a station wagon. Ridiculous, I thought—I was driving a racy red BMW sedan

Uncle Eddy and the Gift of Family

Like Santa he would always come at Christmas.

Wonderland

Like Alice falling through the looking glass, we arrive in a mysterious space.

place, cultureNancy EganNovember 24, 2023Ra Paulette, Ojo Caliente, Northern New Mexico, Cave sculptures, sandstone, Nosa Inn Comments

Everywhere Guadalupe

I have been spending a lot of time with the Guadalupe over the last few months.

culture, place, identityNancy EganJune 17, 2023Our Lady of Guadalupe, Guadalupe, Murals, Santuario of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, red handprint, Tonantzin, Nancy, The Art of Noticing, Rob Walker, @whereslupita, syncretism, Mexico City, Lupitia Comments

Storytellers

My Grandmother would entertain us with her stories. Some evenings, at our urging, she would recite
The Spell of the Yukon by Robert Service, the sad improbable tales of Sam McGee and Dan McGrew.
There were lessons in the lyrics.

The Golden Rollin' Belly

The Golden Rollin' Belly, a pub with British pretensions and waitresses in wench costumes, had opened that summer just in time for the race season at the Del Mar track.

culture, placeNancy EganFebruary 14, 2023Burt Bacharach, Angie Dickinson, Del Mar California, Del Mar Track, horse racing, The Golden Rollin Belly, waitress, jockeys, John Stewart Comments

Hemingway, the Photographer, and the Cheesemonger

As I puzzled over the wide selection at Murray’s Cheese, the cheesemonger asked what I was reading. I said Hemingway's The Dangerous Summer. "Ah, a mahon," he recommended

culture, placeNancy EganNovember 19, 2022Ernest Hemingway, Tony Triolo, Murray's Cheese, New York City, Spain, bullfighting, mano a mano, Sports Illustrated, sports photography, Guy Clark, Hemingway's Whiskey, The Dangerous Summer Comments

Indigenous Peoples Day

While I am not of the culture, I am listening, paying honest attention.

In the Shadow of the Anselmo

We were 1950's free range kids. Woolman Street was our playground—we ran down the sidewalk and clambered up the steps to our small yards and porches to play.

culture, identityNancy EganJuly 2, 2022Woolman Street, Anselmo Mine, Butte Montana, 4th of July, 1950's, childhood Comments

Nurturance

Coq au Vin is the signature dish in my culinary repertoire. I use Craig Claiborne's recipe from the tattered New Times Cookbook that was given to me by my sister for my first Christmas as a newlywed in 1975.

identity, cultureNancy EganDecember 12, 2021Cooking, cookbooks, coq au vin, family, friends, France Comments

Cemetery Stories

I am no stranger to graveyards.

culture, placeNancy EganNovember 15, 2021Cemeteries, garveyards, Bald Mountain Cemetery. Historic Fairview Cemetery, Nevadaville, Colorado, Gilpin County, Albuquerque, New Mexico Humanities Council, Cornish immirants, M.rauh, Annette Stott, AHI Comments

Falling in Love with Santa Fe

It was my first time in the city, and I was, as New Mexicans like to say, enchanted.

culture, placeNancy EganSeptember 15, 2021Santa Fe, New MexicoComment

Fourth of July in Butte, Montana

When I was a young girl growing up in Butte, Independence Day was one of my favorite holidays, so wasn't hard for my sister Dianne to convince me to join her and my nephew Eamon for 4th of July weekend in in my old hometown.

place, cultureNancy EganJuly 5, 2021Butte Montana, 4th of July, Parade, mining town, Anselmo Mine, Berkeley Pit, Superfund site, Uptown National Historic Landmark District, Copper KingsComment

My Father and His Father's Grave

In the last year of my father's life he obsessed about his father's grave. His life had been upended in nearly every way, yet regularly he would call the office at St. Patrick's Cemetery in Butte, Montana to assure that his father's grave was being cared for.

identity, place, cultureNancy EganMarch 17, 2021Butte MT, Ventura CA, Robert Emmet Literary Association, Ireland, ancient Order of Hiberians, St. Patrick's Day, Robert Emmet, Irish Republic, Ivy Lawn, St. Patrick's CemeteryComment

Everyday Guadalupe

Although I may be a fallen away Catholic, I am a practicing Guadalupana. She is my go-to intercessor whenever there is a request for prayers or when I need a little personal grace.

identity, culture, placeNancy EganDecember 12, 2020Guadalupe, nichos, roses, New York City, MexicoComment

Zoom Life

Zoom life, it's how we are living these days.

cultureNancy EganNovember 6, 2020pandemic, zoom, techonlogyComment

The Miracle of the Cakes

In the time of Corona, celebrating special events requires exceptional ingenuity. Without question one of the most creative to date was the elaborate virtual birthday party orchestrated by one high school girlfriend for another.

culture, identityNancy EganOctober 30, 2020birthdays, cake, creamsicle, girlfriendsComment