“I spent all morning putting in a comma and all afternoon taking it out.” -Oscar Wilde
Essays/Prose
That Visceral Sea Monster
Kneeling down, she let her fingertips glide over the bead’s curved surface, marveling at the intricate detail, only halfway conscious of the murmur of marketplace…
Andes Mountains- Quipu
You know that feeling you get when you really want something, but know that you shouldn’t have it? Well, recently, I’ve been frequenting the Teacher’s…
The Art of Subtraction
I remember subtraction being a big deal in first grade. There were dinosaur eggs on the classroom bulletin board with our names on them and,…
Columbus Day & Word Loans
A few weeks ago, my best friend lent me a heating pad after I injured my back. It was a very thoughtful gesture and much…
Gold of the Morning
I love the gold of the morning, those scintillating flecks of light peppering the ever-changing canvas of the night sky, as the latter slowly fades…
Dune Grasses
Droplets splat against the windowpanes and our bare heads as we hurried to pack the rest of the vehicle. Nearly every material thing I owned…
The Clouds Are My Friends
Feeling carefully with my sneaker, I take another step up. Dizzying swirls of green mock me from below, but I stand resolute in my insistence…
Hiking & Hyperpolyglots
Let me introduce you to my fantasy self. She is an avid hiker. Weekends are spent camping under the stars, and she knows the trails…
Yes to Pizza.
Once upon a time, there was a Spanish teacher who awakened very early one Friday morning and knew–without a doubt–that it was going to be…
Hibernation
A thick fog hangs like Spanish moss in the air. The air is cool; blurry palms stand quietly in the distance. Winter. Hibernation. Emerging from…
Southern Spain- Andalucía
The unrelenting Spanish sun beat down on me as I wiped the sweat from my forehead for the umpteenth time, wondering what in the world…
Black Sands
THE SADNESS rolls over me in waves, intermittent pulses gradually washing away the shoreline. I reach down for a handful of the volcanic black sand,…
Favorite Shirt
RAINY DAYS usually felt cozy, comforting: grayness squeezing her in a tight metaphorical hug, drops pelting the windowpane in a steady rhythm, staying inside with…
River of Joy
She took one last, lingering look around, slipped into the canoe, and pushed off. Aside from a few light water ripples, it was quiet that…
The Struggle
I stared at it from across the room. It stared back, refusing to blink, trying to lure me into the game, stubborn as all get-out.…
Those Dusty Old Tomes
THOSE DUSTY OLD TOMES haunt me, inspire me, enrage me, calm me: they are my best friends and my arch-nemeses. I turn the pages quickly,…
Winter in Brussels
The flakes fell fast and heavy, quickly transforming the city skyline into an incomprehensible, wintry blur. She stood still inside the moving tram, watching silently; there…
Minimalism
There has been an effort in recent years to quash inaccurate definitions of minimalism–to streamline, to declutter, to get to the heart of what exactly…
Just Play
As a child, I played “school” a lot. My mother says that in kindergarten, I would coerce others to be my students and scribble lessons…
Imports & Exports
The current political/media state has brought to the world’s attention how incredibly dependent and interdependent we–along with millions of people–are on other country’s products and services. An Apple…
Language Cities
Let’s imagine for a moment that languages are like cities. There are the Preposition subdivisions, the Noun suburbs, the Direct and Indirect Objects kicking around…
The Mental Labyrinth
I used to be quite good at mazes. I could see where to go and how to get there without much effort or thought. Getting…
Thoughts
I wander through a foreign land, searching, forever searching. Tantalizing smells waft past, weaving in and out and around the city like Aladdin’s magic carpet.…
Super-Ninjas
A very specific coldness crept into the air, one reminiscent of pumpkin spice teas, axes chopping wood in preparation for what the Farmer’s Almanac predicted,…
The Day of the Eucalyptus
A deep sadness seeps into my bones. The Camino is coming to an end. This adventure—as with so many trips—has passed by too quickly; I…
Refreshed
Kesäyö. The linguist was tired. Her brain had morphed into a glob of jelly. Or perhaps jam. Something squishy and clearly unable to function. What did it mean? She craved…
Finding Meaning
Tiny particles of cinnamon swirled through the air around her, pulling her into a scented, Fantasia-like dream. She began to drift away—far away, to the most…