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Resolution
I don’t know if I’m afraid of heights, or afraid of getting down from heights–of not getting down–but when the guide said, it looks like rain, let’s start on the roof, I followed her up. Not wanting to miss anything, ready to add to my photo collection, eager to take in every nook and cranny […]
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Walking the West Highland Way
Having enjoyed and endured twenty-five years of each other’s company in marriage, we thought it was time for a treat and rewarded ourselves with a trip to Scotland and a walk on the West Highland Way with our kids. I wanted one of those luxurious hikes where you spend the night at a cozy inn […]
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Exchange Visits
My mother and my daughter left this week on a two-week trip to Germany, which has me remembering my own trip to Germany with my Oma. I was a year younger than my daughter is now, a high school junior rather than a recent graduate. The first part of the trip was a school trip–our […]
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What I’m reading (January)
La Virgen Cabeza, by Gabriela Cabezón Cámara (what a great name, no?). One of the writers who leapt to mind for her when I asked Angélica Gorodsicher last October, “who else should I read?” A striking, unexpected voice, just enough left unexplained, left for the reader to assemble. Fast moving, abrasive yet sympathetic. And having […]
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Summer Reading (I)
Not stacked in order. But summer’s just started, so I’ve just started reading. First Tumba de jaguares. This is my next translation, so this is a re-read. Here are the first two sentences: “Soñé que estaba en el cielo. No en El Cielo paraíso de almas bienaventuradas sino en el cielo, ese ¿élitro? azul celeste que oficialmente nos cubre, tanto para religiones […]
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Cardinal Reflections
It’s a firebird, or maybe a flower. I was out cutting flowers early this morning, six a.m. and muggy in a way it seldom is in Oregon, or maybe my hurry just made it seem warm. And then I was looking for pictures of cardinals, and found instead reflected light on wood. Of course, there […]
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And then when I wasn’t looking. . .
The prunes tree burst into bloom. Fat buds on Saturday, full blossoms on Thursday. With bees.
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Pruning the Prunes Tree
For years, I called it a prune tree. And my Brooks prune, once it had been in the ground a while, obligingly provided a prune nearly every August. Maybe September. One prune. It dawned on me that perhaps I should call it a prunes tree. Much more obligingly (or equally obligingly, if we follow the […]