by Samantha Fagan | Jan 27, 2022 | Substack
While quarantined in Barbados as the country’s health officials considered the multiple COVID tests we took to pass just one night in transit in the country…I discovered this wall with a dazzling display of lighting options.
Flipping those switches must punctuate the daily opening of the meal service.
More than light switches, the lighting of our shared spaces is a long story. Some of the storytellers are artists who represent light in their sculptures and painting. Filmmakers and photographers are all about light.
Read more about this experience in the latest issue of my Substack newsletter, out today: https://robynmetcalfe.substack.com/subscribe
by Samantha Fagan | Dec 17, 2021 | Substack
Are you familiar with the origins of Parmesan cheese?
In the 17th century, Samuel Pepys buried his cheese in the ground surrounding his house, perhaps in his garden, as a way to protect a precious asset.
Parmesan cheese was and still is considered a valuable commodity. Popes gave it as gifts to royalty. Now, over five centuries later, a bank keeps a vault filled with Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
This gives us a sense of how the market was, and how cheese helps make the world go ‘round…
Parmesan cheese is one topic in my latest Substack newsletter, out today! I also include pieces about climate change, a story of when I marched on Earth Day in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the ‘70s next to LSD-taking liberals as a conservative sorority girl, and how we can amplify the “good” in the world when we come together.
Sign up here to access the exclusive Substack content! https://robynmetcalfe.substack.com/subscribe
by Samantha Fagan | Nov 25, 2021 | Substack
After a quick visit back to Maine this month, I felt the seasonal transition through the sights and smells along my morning run. It was cold: 30 degrees feels bitter cold when you arrive from Austin, Texas where the morning temperatures plummet to 50 degrees. The cold air seeped through my two layers of winter gloves.
My shoes crunched along bright orange and red leaves cast into my footpath by the recent storm. The trees overhead burst into golden blaze when the warm sun reflected through the branches.
Enhancing these seasonal impressions were the smells that infused my path. Dried pine needles sent out their smell, which seemed honey-like as their scent grew as the morning sun settled and cast its light on the path.
All these sensations connect to the language of our senses, in particular this language of smell.
I wrote about this new journey through my senses in this month’s Substack newsletter (out tomorrow), and also shared about the way others use their senses to impart their art into the world.
Visit https://robynmetcalfe.substack.com/subscribe to get exclusive access to tomorrow’s newsletter plus all of my previous issues!
by Samantha Fagan | Oct 28, 2021 | Substack
This summer while in Maine, I changed my running route to head south instead of north along our rocky coastline. Early morning, just after a short espresso and a skim of news headlines and some spiritual reflection time.
Out the door, a mix of walking hills and running flats and downhills. Fall seeping into the edges of my vision. Gloves this time. Sandy shoulders, ferns, deep ramshackle woods, steely, bitter smells from moss, leaves turning reds and oranges, falling on the ground.
I wrote about this new running route in my latest Substack newsletter, and also shared about the interesting characters (people!) I met along the way.
Visit https://robynmetcalfe.substack.com/subscribe to sign up to get this month’s issue, which includes more on this topic plus some other short essays I think you’ll like.
by Samantha Fagan | Sep 30, 2021 | Substack
Country roads can take you home to where you belong and recently, the residents of Owls Head had a homecoming of their own to celebrate 100 years of this town.
Locked up in their homes during the pandemic, scattered by the constraints of mask mandates, the partygoers were energized and enthusiastic about their music and each other.
I wrote about this charming and exciting celebration in my latest Substack newsletter, and also touched on some of the unique and interesting history about Owls Head you might not already know of!
Visit https://robynmetcalfe.substack.com/subscribe to sign up to get this month’s issue (and a bonus “First Look” essay!
by Samantha Fagan | Sep 30, 2021 | Substack
Have you ever done a live cheese tasting through Zoom? 🧀🧐
Since I’ve been working on my upcoming documentary related to cheese, Shelf Life, I’ve had many opportunities to partake in some (tasty) research for the film.
And one piece of my research included a live cheese tasting on Zoom with Zoe Brickly, the Creative Director of Jasper Hill Creamery, and Laura Corey, Project Manager for Curatorial, Conservation, and Science Initiatives at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, about connections between the museum’s holdings and the occupants of Zoe’s cheese caves in Vermont.
We gazed at our screens to discover still life paintings that used cheese as a metaphor and as a supporting character for an allegory that portrays cheese as a symbol of lust and indulgence, sin, and decadence.
To see an example of one of the paintings and discover more about our findings with this unique way of blending art and cheese, sign up to join us inside this month’s September Substack Newsletter – out today!
PS: Cheese + metaphors is one of the many topics in my newest Substack newsletter, out today! Visit https://robynmetcalfe.substack.com/subscribe to sign up to get this month’s issues, which include a newsletter and a bonus “First Look” essay.
