Greasy air oozes out when we open the door to the truck stop cafe. Cigarette smoke, grilled hamburgers, burnt hash browns, and perked coffee replaces the frosty air outside. Men in plaid wool shirts hunch over thick white ceramic plates of food, heavy jackets draped over chair backs. Ashtrays hold smoking butts. A few… Continue reading The Grapevine
Category: Travel
Noise
Antigua, Willoughby Bay. The waves here are gentle. They slide in, nestle against the sand, pause for a millisecond, pull away, only to return, relentless, like love-struck suitors who can’t stay away from the beloved. The trade winds bump against the palmetto leaves, which rattle and click against each other, gossiping,whispering, never still. These… Continue reading Noise
Antigua – Painting with Tessa, March 2018
Trade winds are blowing hard this morning. If I were a sailor, I would be busting a gut to be out in it, but as I am here to paint the scenery rather than sail through it, I could do with a gentler wind. We are four women staying in a beautiful villa on Willoughby… Continue reading Antigua – Painting with Tessa, March 2018
Finding My Way….
The air wrapped around me like cool silk. As I walked it warmed just enough to hint that the sun would be stronger in an hour, but not hot, not today. Warm, fresh air with overtones of sage and warm cement wafted around me. The sensation of this winter day transported me to my high… Continue reading Finding My Way….
Well, whadayaknow.
I feared that my life experience, which includes living in two countries besides my own for over 20 years, would be a barrier to making new friends in this southern California community. I knew that the Latino population would be influential, and indeed, many public signs are now in both English and Spanish. But I… Continue reading Well, whadayaknow.
Deus ex machina-Shere-ing Time 3
The gods arrived on Thursday morning in the forms of a Phillipina cleaner and an English gardener. Before Carmelita arrives I always clean house so she won’t think I’m a pig, so there was that to do, then young Jack Dew(er) lives up to his name by bounding to the door fresh as a spring… Continue reading Deus ex machina-Shere-ing Time 3
Shere-ing Time, 2
Okay, so here’s what happened next. I plunged into the Slough of Despond, paralyzed by fear and sense of loss, extending back to the age of about 6, and thinking that such a small person could not possibly cope with the vastness of moving an entire house, indeed, pretty much an entire life, back into… Continue reading Shere-ing Time, 2
Shere-ing Time, 1
It is early morning in late winter, and cold outside, as it has been for days. Elm and chestnut trees stand denuded of leaves, their untidy branches and bony twigs scratching at frozen air. Evergreens stand stolidly, silent giants biding their time, waiting for spring. But I am cozy in bed,alone now, huddled under a… Continue reading Shere-ing Time, 1
Claremont, California, Ashland, Oregon, and Peralta, New Mexico
Gray Sandhill cranes, bent to pluck bugs and seeds from the fields, have been gurgling their strange, raucous call since dawn. They look almost like sheep from a distance with their long necks reaching down, or small, gray emus closer up. Pale winter fields, fallow at this time of year, stretch all around my sister’s… Continue reading Claremont, California, Ashland, Oregon, and Peralta, New Mexico
The way to San Jose (and Saratoga and Los Gatos)
Spe nt Thanksgiving in San Jose with part of the family, including two nieces, a grandniece, a sister, and a grand nephew. It was my first Thanksgiving in the states for many years. All the traditional dishes made it around the table, like roast turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, green beans and… Continue reading The way to San Jose (and Saratoga and Los Gatos)