The idea of vanishment isn’t new for me. Ever since I was a kid, I both reveled in the social beauty of the world and yet knew that it drained my energy too often. I was the shy, quiet girl who liked to have an escape route. I sat in back of the class, and…
In two days we celebrate the autumnal equinox. Almanac.com lists lists some traditions: At Machu Picchu in Peru, an ancient stone monument called Intihuatana—which means “Hitching Post of the Sun”—serves as a solar clock to mark the dates of the equinoxes and solstices. In Mexico, the Mayans built a giant pyramid called Chichen Itza. On the equinoxes, it looks as if…
I have been so extremely busy that I haven’t had time to really write at all lately. But I have been moved to explode my thoughts onto paper, or in this case, the computer. However, term start on campus leaves me little time to do much else than breathe when I have a chance. In…
I’ve been avidly watching Anthony Bordain’s Parts Unknown over the summer. It’s on Canada’s Netflix, at least the first eight seasons. I like the show because it really goes into the diverse cultures of places around the world, many of which I’ve never been. It ties together food, politics, culture, and natural environment. I think…
I had a full day with my husband: traveling to Burnaby for an appointment, going on a three-mile hike at the Barnet Marine Park, eating a very late lunch, grocery shopping, visiting the newest used bookstore in the area and finding a good read, coming home to clean and bbq, calling family to say hello,…
Mammaw is on the right of the featured image above. She is snapping beans, no doubt to dry them and make her famous shucky beans. “Every gray hair she had looked like a corn silk” -Mom. Every couple weeks, I go out to the balcony, sit back with some red wine, watch the absolutely great…
I said last year that I didn’t want this blog to be a place where I posted really personal stuff, like health issues. I don’t have any serious issues, but part of my doctor’s plan in the last few months was to try various medications to counteract symptoms arising from heart palpitations–and all of them…
I am sunburned and browning, and just returned from the interior where the mountains are lush yet the hills just east are brown and desert-like. This very morning I talked with my husband’s grandmother, who just turned 102. She, and the quick changing of seasons, reminds me that life is eternal but humans are maybe…
I guess it’s technically spring now, but it just goes to show how long it’s been since I first started this post–and wrote nothing on it–until now. So many things have been going on that I just haven’t had time to blog. One is a new series’ focus at eco-fiction, which I’ll announce shortly. Another…
Update: My review is now live at SFFWorld.com. Today I got tickets to see Annihilation. I don’t look intensely forward to a lot of movies, but I have this one, ever since I read the book. Back then, the author was kind enough to talk to me some about his writing. You know me, I…
