When you ask a Spaniard why the year 1492 is important, don't expect any reference to the Italian they hired to sail to the Indies and ended up in the Bahamas. No, 1492 is the year Spain evicted the Berbers, or Moors. For 700 years, Arab expansion had infiltrated southern Europe with a culture--indeed, a civilization--so advanced that it is credited with stimulating the Renaissance. Our gang in Segovia hopped a southbound train last week, and visited Granada. Here are a few hombres at El Mirador, a lookout spot from which one admires the Moors' spectacular citadel The Alhambra, which is visible behind.

Here, in the words of Dave Spear, "...there were jugglers, Bohemian jewelry vendors and strange gypsies that live in the caves in the hills nearby. We also visited some really neat spice vendors and bought Saffron and teas."

Back in New Hampshire, Proctor's Touring Theater is visiting area elementary schools with their clever interpretation of Aladdin and His Magic Lamp. Written by our own Terry Stoecker and Michael Littman, this production is fast-moving, colorful, and replete with wit and wisdom. Below, in a remake of an ancient tale, Aladdin picks forbidden fruit from a symbolic tree:

The actors in our Touring Theater bring a degree of intensity and focus to their roles that commands the attention of their audience of little tikes. After the show, there's time to field questions, most of which explore discrepancies with the Disney film of the same name....