When evening comes, a heavy blue has fallen over the valley where we are renting a house. From where I wash dishes in the kitchen, I look out over a wide field. On the far side a stream runs along the base of a small mountain covered in pine trees wearing coats and hats of …
For some, COVID-19 meant time and energy; it led to a surge of creative output. For others – and I fell into this category – the pandemic has been stifling. I hid away from the virus in my house, but I couldn’t hide from its invasion as a subject. Every time I sat down to …
Happy Easter, to all those who celebrate! Easter is one of my favorite holidays. I love the distinct week-long anticipation set by the presence of Holy Week, during which I keep the 1970 Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack on repeat. I love the time of year – April with its showers, crocuses & daffodils, and the …
It had started to snow and I put the kettle on to boil some water for tea while I put on my snow boots and a heavy winter coat. It felt like a snow specific for me; just a few nights before, I had stood next to my car after I parked in my driveway, …
Two years ago today, I flew to Copenhagen to meet my new family and home for the next four months. I remember the date because it was burned into my mind. I was very nervous about the people I would live with. I had filled out a housing form a few months earlier, in which …
Every December I hunker down for my annual viewing of – no, not Rudolph. Not the Grinch, nor Charlie Brown. None of these, yet a classic in its own right: “A Christmas Kiss” (2011). The movie follows an interior design assistant who is working late one night when her elevator falls and she finds herself …
Tis the Season for “Wildly Sentimental Christmas Chick Flicks” Read More »
The summer before my freshman year of college. I’m working as waitstaff for a catering company in my hometown. Tonight’s wedding is at Turner Hill, a brick mansion overlooking a golf course. It’s crowded and hot; I’m wearing a full black tuxedo and sweating thoroughly. I’m also eyeing an attractive, curly-haired man working at the …
On this last day of summer, I count coins. I sit on my childhood bedroom carpet and dump out a few hundred dirt-caked nickels and pennies and dimes and some broken rubber bands. When I was younger, my weekly $3 allowance came in the form of coins. My dad gave me his stash of colorful …