travel

Life Without My Husband – Day Two

I had trouble getting to sleep on my first night alone, but once there, I slept longer than usual. I forget — were queen-sized beds meant for two people or only one? My childhood friend Suzy’s parents had two queen-sized beds. All the parents I knew had twin beds separated by a little table, justContinue reading “Life Without My Husband – Day Two”

Abortion in Austria

In the 1920s there was a severe housing shortage in Vienna, and when my friend Mariella’s parents got married, they could find no place to live. So they moved in with the husband’s mother, who specified that while they could live with her, but there could be no children. The new wife got pregnant, andContinue reading “Abortion in Austria”

Teenagers Dating in Austria

The sexual landscape in Austria is interesting. It seems quite typical of several European countries, but I have recently had the opportunity to hear about that particular country on an extended visit there. Birth control supplies are discounted for young people up to the age of 21, then they become more expensive. Yes, teenagers getContinue reading “Teenagers Dating in Austria”

My North Carolina, and Why I Am Not Surprised

The guiding principle is to emphasize the positive, but today I am not inclined to do so, because that would not reflect my experience. Every once in a while you have to move past “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” I am not surprised by what is happeningContinue reading “My North Carolina, and Why I Am Not Surprised”

Report from Austria: The Cloud

I brought a box of soap to my Austrian friends as a hospitality gift. It was found in a drawer in my aunt’s house, which I have recently cleared out after her move into an assisted living facility. The box is of fine black, durable, shiny cardboard, is about a foot long and a fewContinue reading “Report from Austria: The Cloud”

Report from Marseilles

There were hundreds, hundreds, more than I have ever seen, of sailing boats and other boats in the marina in the middle of Marseilles’s downtown, a sign of enormous wealth and privilege. But the rest of the city was disturbing. More than once I was jostled more closely than normal and I clutched my BaggaliniContinue reading “Report from Marseilles”

Report from Paris: Art, Toilets, Poetry

Report from Paris: Poetry, I am in Paris. I didn’t want to come . I envisioned walking through museums viewing paintings that I had known (or near enough) for decades. Sigh. It would be fine. I wanted to be out in the country, enjoying the dry summer heat, or the cool summer breezes, in touchContinue reading “Report from Paris: Art, Toilets, Poetry”