Personal Writing

“Change your life today. Don’t gamble on the future, act now, without delay.” ― Simone de Beauvoir

Best Reads of 2016

While this was the year I finally read the Harry Potter series and revisited some old favorites like Jose Saramago’s The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, I also managed to read a collection of surprising and interesting titles that were neither about wizards and witches nor books I had read and loved before.  Of the 80 or so books I read this year, these were...

The Camino Day 1: A Bruja, Sirens, and The Tricks of Memory

My first day on the Camino was arduous and exhilarating all at once—and only slightly interrupted by disaster! When I left St. Jean Pied de Port this morning, the city was covered in a light fog that stretched out for the first hour before the sun burned it away, revealing a verdant, lush set of valleys and hills that I eagerly set out to cross. I even found myself...

My Father’s Soliloquy

My dad returned just when I needed him most. The first fiery red bumps announced their presence on my face and arms the day he came home, the day he came home for the last time, to say goodbye.  Sitting there in his battered old red pickup truck, I furiously scratched my skin, waiting for him to come out of the bar, where he had stopped in for “a quick...