 | Michael Wray April 28, 2024 |
A Meditation Under Gray Skies
MY FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE One of my favorite places to be is at our summer flat in Silivri, about 60 kms outside of İstanbül, where I like to escape to on weekends during the off season to take a break from the constant demands of life in the city. Besides the fact that this small holiday village is…
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| Michael Wray November 13, 2023 |
The Dangers of Binary Thinking
The Death Of Nuance Of all the many memes that are circulating in response to the war in Gaza today, one of them that caught my greatest attention was the following: Yet it seems that there is no longer room for equivocation in today’s world of black and white responses to religious, social, moral, or political issues. You’re…
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| Michael Wray June 9, 2023 |
The Poisoned Chalice
There was once a kingdom divided upon itself, where two dukes sought a coveted chalice. This chalice, said to possess magical powers, was believed to be the key to uniting their land and bringing prosperity and respect to their people. Little did they know that the chalice held a dark secret: the poison of insurmountable problems that could…
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| Michael Wray May 1, 2023 |
AFTERMATH
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back At the dawn of 2023, I was feeling that things in the world had been showing signs of improvement. First and foremost, at great sacrifice to its people and infrastructure, Ukraine had managed to repel the invading Russians from its heartland and seemed poised to launch an effective counter-offensive to its east…
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| Michael Wray March 9, 2023 |
GREEN TURNS TO BROWN
Time, he’s waiting in the wingsHe speaks of senseless thingsHis script is you and me, boy Time – David Bowie Now and Then I’ve been thinking a lot about the relativity of time lately – as one does upon reaching a certain age or point in one’s life. How the summer days seemed endless as a schoolboy,…
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| Michael Wray December 10, 2022 |
Winter In Istanbul
It Sure Beats My Hometown This year marks the 28th winter that I’ll be spending in Istanbul, and after growing up in a small town in Northern Ontario, I couldn’t be happier. Today is December 10 and it’s a balmy 18 degrees with gray skies and a high probability of rain. Compare that to my hometown of Sault…
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| Michael Wray October 23, 2022 |
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN?
I Don’t Get it I was watching Mike Myers go on about the Queen’s passing on The Tonight Show the other evening. He was expressing his sadness and thoughts about the Queen vis a vis his Canadian heritage. It reminded me of the posts I had seen online by Canadian friends back home – one even blacked out…
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| Michael Wray October 8, 2022 |
YOU CAN NEVER GO HOME AGAIN
Really? Never? I’ve spent the past couple of months processing my trip home to Canada this summer and have mixed feelings about the title of Thomas Wolfe’s posthumously published final novel. On the one hand, I love my adopted country, Turkey, and can’t imagine going back to live in my homeland. On the other, when I do…
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| Michael Wray June 10, 2022 |
The Sweet Spot
“If you’re sad today, just remember that the world is 4.4 billion years old and you somehow managed to live at the same time as David Bowie.” Simon Pegg Long Ago and Far Away My best friend and I often discuss how lucky we both were to have been born in 1960. We are united…
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| Michael Wray May 26, 2022 |
America, Whither Goest Thou?
The Fall of Rome I’ve often wondered if the normal citizens of Rome realized that their civilization was on the verge of collapse before it finally came to pass. We’re told it was attacks by the Goths and Visigoths that precipitated Rome’s downfall but what if the mechanisms of state had their own demise hard wired into the…