• Blessings - Food - For fun. - Light - This really happened. - Travelling

    Doppelgängers & cream.

    December 6, 2017 - By 

    It is my first time in England. Me, who called our rabbit King George because he thought he was the boss of everyone. I have so many small observations — so I am just gonna lay them here. On Doppelgängers:  There is a doppelgänger here for almost every person I know back in the States.     Are you all Brits from back in the day? The Tate Modern museum in London is named for the guy who invented cubed sugar.  Ain’t never gonna see sugar cubes again without thinking of the Tate Modern and how R couldn’t wait to…

  • Being Human - Family - For fun. - Travelling

    Honeymooners with bad backs.

    November 14, 2017 - By 

    Weeks ago, before we arrived, I was talking to someone about our upcoming adventure. “You know”, she told me, “my friends S and D did this a few years ago.  They were just like honeymooners”. Later that day I was talking to R.    I told him what she had said.  “Guess what?”, I said.  “We might be like honeymooners!”. ”yeah”, he said.  “Like honeymooners with bad backs.” I have to admit this just poured all manner of cold water on my optimism…but optimism I continued to try to muster.   Amidst the onslaught of feeling I described in This Piece,…

  • Fear - For fun. - This really happened. - Travelling

    La doccia, i dolcetti e la piccola danza.

    November 10, 2017 - By 

    Avevo paura…ho avuto paura…avevo avuto paura. Prima, avevo paura delle molte cose.   I have been afraid…I was afraid…I had been afraid. But now — now I am brave. The first thing that I was afraid of, when I arrived, was the shower. You know, the shower.  As in — a way for me to become clean again after walking miles and miles through the city.  Or after sleeping.  Or after cooking with garlic. The shower is very, very narrow (la doccia è molto stretta — quasi troppo…).  It is probably only about twenty-two inches square…and the shower entry is…

  • Being Human - For fun. - Hope - Light - This really happened. - Travelling

    Siamo arrivati.

    November 8, 2017 - By 

    Allora…so…siamo arrivati. We have arrived. Today is Day Numero 6. When we arrived, at first, I was sure, absolutely sure that I was fine.  I am fine.  I am functioning.  I slept (un po’) on the plane…so…fine.   We took a MyTaxi from MXP to our apartment in the Navigli (canals) district.   We found the apartment.  We opened the door. Dark.  Reeking of cigarettes. I will have to adjust, I thought.   Next I thought: What the devil did we do?   (or WTAF if you want me to use my full expression of our language…) We will be…

  • Being Human - Fear - This really happened. - Travelling

    Ben & Rob & Bear

    June 4, 2017 - By 

    It was just one of those beautiful mornings in early June in the way, way North…the kind of day which starts out bright at 5 – and just gets brighter. It was yesterday. They had hired a Guide, Ben and Rob did. He was “Big Jim”. Someone to teach them fly-fishing in the Canadian Rockies. So there they were, in hip waders, in streams. Just a flick of the wrist, it is said. There is a rhythm to it – flick forward and back. And back again. The sparkling sun on the water. Standing, standing. Standing for a bit longer. Nothing…

  • Being Human - Family - For fun. - Light - This really happened. - Travelling

    But oh, the ice fields!

    June 1, 2017 - By 

    Among the adventures I have always wanted but never told was to be here, where I am. When we drove up we saw elk and moose and snow on the peaks.  This, of course, ridiculous because I am so relieved that at home things are finally green and blooming and spring….but the snow on the mountains still makes me go “ahhhhhhh”. After yesterday’s odd restaurant encounter we decided to try the evening at the hot springs….and it turns out that I am old and fussier than I used to be about germs….and now I understand that I am truly a…

  • Being Human - Differences - Family - Food - This really happened. - Travelling

    The Canadian Ukrainian.

    June 1, 2017 - By 

    It was late afternoon and we hadn’t eaten since early morning.   We were driving the TransCanadian highway and came to Canmore. We were super starving. Oh, I said, pointing….let’s eat at that place. The building was golden yellow which is sometimes a good idea and there was parking. And outside — a jackhammer.   Like a machine gun…but with more concrete dust. We walked into the restaurant.    Also yellow.     Oilcloth table covers and green chairs.    The owner was trying to drown out the jackhammer by playing loud music:  “sexual healing”. The white board advertised Bison…

  • Being Human - Difficulty - Light - messages - Travelling

    Scaffolding.

    May 10, 2017 - By 

    I love the scaffolding. The scaffolding. I love in the city to see scaffolding against a building. I love to duck under scaffolding to go into a store to score some tea. To window shop. Scaffolding is a reminder that the city is always changing. It is always becoming. Like me. I am not just an ancient grey building but I am rebuilding, renovating. I am being remade every day. I let you all know this by stenciling on my walls Post No Bills. Like the city, I am changing but I endure. At times I need the scaffolding. I…

  • Blessings - Light - This really happened. - Travelling

    The Taxi-Driver’s Tale.

    April 9, 2017 - By 

    When the taxi arrived the driver was anxious to share with me that he was from Lebanon – and that his mother died three years ago. He told me that she died alone, in a dark room, hastened by the neglect of his sisters and this, he would never forget. He wanted me to know that he believed in Karma. That he believed in Kindness. He said that with Karma there is no guarantee that things will come back to you…”but you never know,” he said. I wouldn’t say that he was the most careful driver, weaving a bit between…

  • Darkness - Difficulty - Loss - This really happened. - Travelling

    The birkenau.

    October 16, 2016 - By 

    Last month I had the privilege of going to Berlin.  It was my first time there.  Although I was still walking with my cane (aka The Wooden Leg Named Smith), I took advantage of an opportunity for a (five-hour!) walking tour to learn about Berlin’s history. Here is one story I learned. We were in the cafe courtyard of an art museum — and there we saw two modestly-sized fenced areas.   Planted within those two enclosures were bunches of birch-tree saplings.   Here was an art installation…of birch saplings. During World War II, around 1940, the Nazi leadership realized…

  • Being Human - For fun. - Travelling

    The Short Blocks

    May 8, 2015 - By 

    I am in a place where we count short blocks and long blocks.   Yesterday we went from 74th to 31st – it took no time at all because it was short blocks. I love the short blocks!   Two buildings – three, maybe.   A few doorways – lickety-split – you are on the next street!   I can make a lot of ground by the short blocks. I can really get somewhere.   I can get somewhere – faster. But ahhhh…there is definitely some charm to the long blocks. On a long block you and walk and walk and walk along tree-lined parkways,…

  • Being Human - Blessings - Darkness - Difficulty - Hope - Light - Safety - This really happened. - Travelling

    The Lost Mariners and Almost Missing Maui

    April 26, 2015 - By 

    I heard the most amazing story. There was a cruise ship – and a Greek captain – and two mariners. And some passengers. But I think the star of this story is a thing that is not on any map. More on that later. There is a cruise ship – and it is sailing North towards Hawaii. One morning one passenger gets up early, as he loves to do on these trips. He gets up at five – and consults the map.   He finds that the ship is not headed North at all. It has done an about-face…..it is heading South.…

  • Being Human - Blessings - Hope - Light - Travelling

    Singers at Siesta

    November 1, 2014 - By 

    It was on the first day at the park when we saw him playing the guitar, sitting between statues. He had put his empty red canvas case on the ground — so as to collect euros. His voice was lovely and although we were walking, we stopped and sat. When he sang – and when he sang – we were moved. Such a low and sweet and quiet tone. Dulce. We listened to one song and then another…and another. Beautiful, really. I sent her over with a coin and to ask him if it was his own music – her…

  • Being Human - Fear - Travelling

    Call Me Sudsy Malone.

    October 21, 2014 - By 

    Usually this time of year — as the darkening begins – I feel myself beginning to withdraw. Although I do realize that this is the normal time of year for melancholy, I find myself spending a little more time at home, sorting out closets, cleaning drawers, etc. I have come to realize that I have SAD: Shampoo Accumulation Disorder. My life is abundant. I am wholly blessed with teeny little bottles of personal cleaning products. My illness began years ago, when we were students. Back in the time when the call of “Free Pizza” could tempt us from three counties…

  • Being Human - Hope - Light - Travelling

    On the Sixteenth.

    October 16, 2014 - By 

    We wanted to see Picasso’s Guernica one more time so we headed out early, after breakfast, to the Museo Reina Sofia. But, alas, it was closed.   We sat a bit in the sun, watching other tourists who, like us, didn’t pay attention to the museum hours, react — and then regroup — as they decided what to do next. After a bit we began to walk up Santa Isabel — a happy accident. We passed little bookstores — some markets — and we went in. NOTE TO SELF:  When traveling, find the groceries first — before eating out —…