The fact that my blogging has diminished to a trickle hasn’t escaped my notice. The reason that my blogging has diminished to a trickle is not so obvious. I think most writers can understand my dilemma. In the academic world, “publish or perish” is king. Or queen. In the world of an independent writer seeking […]
I know. I know. The date on my previous post is embarrassing. I had a rough spring. Uncertainty and doubt. Then I ran away to Mongolia in June. Well, not exactly “ran away”. In June 2018, I received an email from Australia’s Intrepid Travel—an email that had been sent out to those Intrepid travelers who […]
This morning I was reading a piece in The New York Times about three friends embarking on a 7-day kayaking trip in the wilds of Alaska*. On Day 1, within minutes of being dropped off, a whale spouts offshore, close enough for gleeful joy or absolute fear—depending upon your response to large mammals in close […]
Today is my anniversary. It was precisely one year ago today that an IV drip began to dose me with the anesthesia that would propel me into a seven-hour surgery. A team composed of two oncology surgeons, an anesthesiologist, and ER nurses worked together to eradicate my breast cancer and put me back together again. […]
“Babci! Can I have a cup of tea?” I skipped into the kitchen and plopped into a chair at the kitchen window. From upstairs, I had watched Dziadzia heading across the lawn to the barn where he would milk the cows.“Yah,” said Babci. She opened the upper cupboard for tea cups and tea bags, then […]
Back story: I’ve been coming to Belize from time to time for 30 years. In 1989, there was no electric power cable under the sea from the mainland to this island. Electricity was supplied by a humongous generator in town that hummed like a sleeping giant. It shook itself awake periodically, knocking out the power, […]
During my childhood, I was allowed to visit a classmate after school precisely two times. Two different classmates. Two different years. Two different reasons why I was never allowed to go there again. In 4th grade, I received an invitation from a classmate named Judy. She had been my kindergarten comrade and confidant, and we […]
The fog is thick this morning, surrounding us in a soft blanket of grey, creeping close and closer still, cloaking the shrubs, disguising the gardens. The fog horn has blown all night long at intervals as regular as breath. In and out, in and out, in and out. I sync my breathing, pull up the […]
I haven’t followed the sport of running in recent years, but this morning’s profile of Eliud Kipchoge in The New York Times caught my eye and I was only too happy to have it interfere with my writing frustrations. Eliud Kipchoge is the greatest marathoner ever. He broke a world record in Berlin this morning. […]
“I’m on my way…” said the Travelocity gnome. And so am I. After a crazy (read: hectic), stressful (read: brutal), downbeat (read: depressing) series of hours, days, weeks, months, I think I’ve finally come out the other side. I’m on my way to a wedding in Hamburg, Germany. Traveling solo—but isn’t that what I’m used […]
