Tag Archives: caucuses

The Mountains

Posted on June 2, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

I am haunted by mountains, ancient and immutable, unconquerable and mysterious fortresses to the past. Sinews and muscles attached to bone, enveloped by a thin layer of skin, ripping upon contact with a rose thorn or bramble; that is not … Continue reading →

Posted in philosophy, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

“The Ghost of Freedom” – A Book Review

Posted on January 13, 2020 by Joel D. Hirst

The stories that shaped the Caucasus are as ancient as language; water flowing evenly over mountains jagged and dangerous home to highland people who are as enigmatic as they are enthralling, their history deposited as olden pebbles in a river … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, International Affairs, Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Merry Christmas From Another Lost Place: This One Ancient and Cold

Posted on December 24, 2019 by Joel D. Hirst

A while ago I wrote about a Christmas in the Sahara; a lost place far from the hubbub of the holidays in places cold and clean. A Muslim place which did not consider Jesus or His condescension to meet us … Continue reading →

Posted in Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 6 Comments

The Prose of the Mountains

Posted on December 12, 2019 by Joel D. Hirst

The stories of the Caucuses reverberate with the ancient lands over which people have fought and suffered and died for millenniums. They are tales infused with the natural beauty of the indomitable gorges and ravines illuminated by the radiance of … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, Literature, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

To Protect Us From Who We Are Becoming

Posted on November 2, 2019 by Joel D. Hirst

In youth we rebel. We look around at what we instinctively know as good, and we sneer at it – for it is not exciting; it does not speak to us of danger or achievement, mountains conquered or sins at … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, Literature, Uncategorized | Tagged , | Leave a comment

“The Golden Fleece” – Stories from the Caucuses

Posted on September 5, 2019 by Joel D. Hirst

It is in the dark forests of our world where often the stories are born. It was in the great wooded areas of Bavaria where the brothers Grimm discovered and catalogued the ancient tales for their eponymous “fairy tales”. So … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, Literature, Uncategorized | Tagged | 1 Comment

The Hard Work of Understanding

Posted on June 19, 2019 by Joel D. Hirst

In this sordid age of journalistic wickedness when those of that treasured profession have decided against their ancient sacred trust of informing, of shining beautiful white light into the darkened corners of our tired world, sometimes nevertheless you come across … Continue reading →

Posted in Book Review, Literature, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment