I wait in the station for my train to Perpignan, the languid, humid buzz of Barcelona present in the low-swung shuffle of sandaled feet and ballooning fabric. I people-watch. Backpackers, the elderly, chic white-clad youth, confused women with high-pitched voices. The duration of my wait makes me pensive. I wonder at the clashing ethos ofContinue reading “After the conference”
Category Archives: Travel
First day in Barcelona
Friday morning I sit cross-legged on a mattress while the rain drips in staccato melody from the eves, charged on café con leche and sleep deprivation. I took to the streets shortly after 6 this morning, wandering towards the old city, watching the street sweepers and a pair of lovers kissing passionately under an arch.Continue reading “First day in Barcelona”
Adventure
I like adventure. Adventure, however, comes in many forms, and truth be told, part of me is still the shy, timid child of two decades ago, content to think in solitude for long periods of time, happy with stillness and home. But adventure is at least in part the pursuit of stillness. Paradoxically, when youContinue reading “Adventure”
In northwest Iowa
I have been coming here ever since I can remember. My father worked this land, weeding beans, feeding livestock. My grandmother grew up here, in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s. Her father grew up here, in the dawn of agricultural industrialism. So when I drive up the lane, the smell of the place hits me, familiar,Continue reading “In northwest Iowa”
Europe 2010
The Danes
This morning I got dressed in black leggings, relatively short casual skirt, black boots, black shirt, baggy rainproof coat. Took myself out to the streets of Copenhagen and discovered that 90 percent or more of the female population was wearing at least one of these items… and my expression. Semi-gaunt chicks with slightly rumpled hairContinue reading “The Danes”
Courting sleep
I just napped for four hours or more here in a hostel in Copenhagen, with the rain falling and birds chirping and children yelping outside the open window … I needed the rest. Oddly enough, I’ve had trouble sleeping all my time so far in Europe, in part because I was in higher-end hotels withContinue reading “Courting sleep”
Between the Walls
We saw the Class yesterday, though at first I had sort of hesitated, asking myself if I really wanted to relive teaching unmotivated French adolescents from the lower classes. Class, itself, has its own subtleties. It always does. I had my jaw agape the whole way through thinking that this had to be some sortContinue reading “Between the Walls”
Airtraveling
The difference between home and away is that away, the only familiar thing distracting you is your own mind. Until away gains normalcy, you wait, listening, and so your hearing seems more acute. You hear yourself, who you were and who you are and the disparity between expectation and reality. The older you get, theContinue reading “Airtraveling”
Botkin Creative 