Category: Africa

A Meditation on Elizabeth Marshall Thomas’s “Growing Old: Notes on Aging with Something Like Grace”

March 2, 2023

I grow old … I grow old … I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled. ~ T.S. Eliot, “The Love Song of Alfred J. Prufrock“   Like it or not, once you’re born, you grow old. (If you’re lucky.) The end is inevitable. Think taxes. And Western society views growing old like figures … More A Meditation on Elizabeth Marshall Thomas’s “Growing Old: Notes on Aging with Something Like Grace”

Escaping to Morocco, via the Magic Carpet of Memory: COVID-19 Isolation, Day 62 (I Think)

November 10, 2022

I wrote this back when none of us had a clue about the long haul we were in for with COVID. From May 2020 originally. Last night I watched the film, “The Forgiven,” with Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain. So Morocco has been n my mind this morning.   Once upon a time, I lived … More Escaping to Morocco, via the Magic Carpet of Memory: COVID-19 Isolation, Day 62 (I Think)

Cabbage and Black-Eyed Peas, Oh My! A New Year’s Tradition in the South

December 31, 2021

New Year’s Day, coming up fast. Planning your menu, are you? There’s a good reason to hesitate, to take your time, because there’s really only one thing to eat that day. Black-eyed peas, a gift from a part of Africa ruled by the French for a long time. They were there as early as 1659 at St. … More Cabbage and Black-Eyed Peas, Oh My! A New Year’s Tradition in the South

Midwest Book Review on “Stoves & Suitcases”

November 8, 2021

My newest book garnered the following review from Midwest Book Review:* Stoves & Suitcases: Searching for Home in the World’s Kitchens should be in the holdings of any collection strong in culinary biography and history. What began as a search for home and roots evolved into a culinary exploration, as Cynthia D. Bertelsen documents in chapters that … More Midwest Book Review on “Stoves & Suitcases”

On the Borderlands

September 25, 2021

Uniformed men on horseback, lassos at the ready, chase brown and black people stumbling in the surging water of the Rio Grande near Del Rio, Texas. The photographs shock. They call up long-buried images. Of the Ku Klux Klan night riding. Of patrollers chasing runaway slaves. Of Native Americans and the U.S. Cavalry at Wounded … More On the Borderlands

Cooking in Africa: Memories and Reflections During COVID-19 Isolation

May 20, 2020

During the week of May 11 – 15, Elatia Harris interviewed me about my latest book, Wisdom Soaked in Palm Oil, available from both Amazon.com and IngramSpark. Read the whole interview below. Day 1: EH: This week I am conducting a live interview in this space with Cynthia Bertelsen, author of Wisdom Soaked in Palm … More Cooking in Africa: Memories and Reflections During COVID-19 Isolation