Saints and Selfies
Every few minutes the caretaker shushes the visitors. They go quiet for a moment, then keep on talking. It doesn’t disturb me as I kneel, watching young men walking cautiously … Continue reading
Spring Reverie
It’s finally and officially warm in Vermont. I think Wednesday there could be snow, but everyone I’ve seen has been seizing the day. People are wearing t-shirts. Scarves have gone … Continue reading
Black and Gray
His set is winding down, but the guy with the guitar has a few more songs in him. The women who were singing along with his 90s rock covers have … Continue reading
Hey, Hi, Nice to See You Again
Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows which giant cookie has your name on it. The old man in a baseball cap shuffles in and waits patiently behind the … Continue reading
Bundles
The family of four will be the last out of the bus and they are taking their merry time departing. Dad exits first with the clunky stroller, but he can’t … Continue reading
Hana and Sarajevo
I hope you won’t mind a poem. This tale is attached to the photo from Wednesday’s post, but I couldn’t find a better way to explain the scene than in … Continue reading
The Ladies of Wifi
In the Italian restaurant overlooking a busy bus station and the remarkable Hungarian parliament building, three women exclaim, “Hotspot? Hotspot?” in unison. The waiter gives them the password and they … Continue reading
Livin’ on a Prayer
He doesn’t speak English, but he speaks Bon Jovi. He wears a black button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a necklace with some sort of animal tooth or … Continue reading
Compassion
She chooses her clothes carefully, this seems clear. Her shoes are leather, the hat on her head is fashionable, the hair underneath well-kept. She is staring ahead and muttering, shaking … Continue reading
Mapmaking
“The life of an individual is in many respects like a child’s dissected map. If I could life a hundred years, keeping my intelligence to the last, I feel as … Continue reading
Layla La La La
There are only four of us in the bus. The driver and I smile as I show him my pass, and I take a seat on the left side and … Continue reading
A New Season
“See that tree?” he said. I nodded “What color is it?” I knew he was leading me to an obvious answer that I couldn’t yet see. “Green” I said. “It’s … Continue reading
Super
For a 6 am flight, there is a nice camaraderie in the airport. People seem too groggy to have their defenses up. We trade bleary-eyed glances. We stifle or release … Continue reading
Watching the Watcher
“If you don’t like the weather, wait a few minutes,” the lady says conspiratorially when she approaches me at a crosswalk. I chuckle as a sign of pedestrian solidarity. I’ve … Continue reading
For Flyover Country
Oh, America, how I began to love your country! What miles of silences God has made in you for contemplation! If only people realized what all your mountains and forests … Continue reading
Icy Conditions
In the middle of Pennsylvania, after driving through sleet and ice for five hours, it is a relief to smile at the two older men sitting for coffee at the … Continue reading
My Journey Home
TSA airport security in O’Hare is making me cry. I receive glares, short-tempered orders, eye rolls, and blank stares. After twenty hours of travel, I have tears in my eyes … Continue reading
Random Apple of Kindness
Our checkout woman has short, funky blonde hair and she’s been very unhappily scanning groceries for a ceaseless line of customers. I don’t blame her for being grumpy. I’m with … Continue reading
A Heartening Tip for Homebodies
Travel? One need only exist to travel. I go from day to day, as from station to station, in the train of my body or my destiny, leaning out over … Continue reading
Soup and Sisters
I’m willing to bet they are sisters, or perhaps very close cousins, but the group of three women are all sitting with identical postures while waiting for the airplane. The … Continue reading
The Nice Thing About Strangers 