Questing
I spent the summer I turned twelve doing four things: reading, keeping a journal of every book I read and film I saw, practicing my violin, and mowing the lawn while belting show tunes (secretly dreaming I’d be discovered by a talent agent over the drone of the mower). The summer I turned twelve I … Continue reading
Getting into Focus
Almost one year ago we boxed up our lives in Edinburgh and hopped on this crazy merry-go-round. We’ve been in four countries, five states, a few dozen cities, and traveled tens of thousands of miles since. As this transitional year wraps-up (she says with a knowing hubris) I’ve been dwelling on little blessings, like my … Continue reading
Oh, Britannia!
We leave in three days. The bags are packed, the tickets bought. The visa is stamped, the car is sold. It is time. While I never expected a wild rushing summer of family politics and working remotely, we’ve covered thousands of miles of country and had countless hugs along the way. Ten weeks ago we … Continue reading
Farewell, bonny Scotland…
So. We’ve packed up and shipped out. All our worldly possessions are in the back of Ollie. We’ve traveled 1200 miles in a week. Suffice it to say internet-time is at a minimum. So for now I leave you with this: After 8 years and 10 months in Scotland, as we drove our winding way … Continue reading
Solstice
You know when you float on your back in the lake, when your ears submerge and the noisy world is still there but all watery and subdued and far away? I sometimes get this sort of feeling around midsummer (and without necessarily going in the lake either). Everything slows down and the world is somehow … Continue reading
The Hermitage Anew
This morning I went for a walk through the Hermitage. I often do when I’m feeling hemmed in and cranky. I’ve probably walked it a hundred times. This little woodland nature reserve, replete with babbling stream and mossy Hobbiton-esque rocks, has been my reprieve ever since I moved to this city. It’s my perfect mix … Continue reading
Sea & Sky
There is this famous cliche claiming the Eskimo language has a hundred, or a thousand, words for snow. Which is quite silly since there is no “Eskimo language”. Perhaps the declaration refers all Eskimo-Aleut languages and dialects generally? Besides, English has dozens of words for snow, if you count things like blizzards, flurries, drizzles, sleat, … Continue reading
The Beginning of Goodbye
I have been delinquent, but dear reader, I have cause! After all my fussy griping and limbo doldrums, Life has moved into the fast lane. So fast, in fact, I can’t be warbling on the internet this morning as there are far too many things to be doing which are super uninteresting but Very Important. … Continue reading
Poetry Season
In America and Canada it is National Poetry Month. And in that lovely, internet-erly world of camaraderie and social campaigning, it is also National Poetry Writing Month, or NaPoWriMo to the nerds among you (e.g., me). Some members of my family are taking the expedition to heart, and it’s filled my world with lots of … Continue reading
Lost in the graveyard
I will look fondly back at many things about Edinburgh; but I am certain I will miss her graveyards something fierce. There is something old and worldly about the cemeteries here. They are often ragged, with more stones lying down than standing erect. They crumble and fade in a way that’s romantic and sad; like … Continue reading
Que Sera Sara? 