city escape

Snow falling quietly on a New Hampshire mountain top.

take a trip

roots

I took some time last week to visit with family and friends in Iowa. This is where I grew up, this is the landscape that shaped me in so many ways.

The sky, the land, the dewy smell of it all.

Fresh asparagus from the backyard garden, dining al fresco with friends and family, sheet cake (yes, even!), and my sister's pecan and chocolate chip cookies.

Listening to my mother and my sister play the piano together.

Watching clouds pass and things grow all around me.

found bliss: once I went to Italy

A friend sent me a text over Italian food reminding me that some 7 years ago we took a trip to Florence, Italy.

I had nearly forgotten. Funny what a little cannelloni and mobile messaging can do.

I dug out an old shoebox of photographs from the corner, and found this.

Grey skies, far off places, and a cheap film camera. Proof that I was there. 

This photo doesn't say much on its own, but for me it opened an old file drawer of memories.

                                                                                                                                      

found bliss: travel postcards

I love epic and lengthy intercontinental travel adventures, but sometimes a little weekend getaway is just what the doctor ordered. Somehow the whole process of travel allows me to reset; sleeping in a different bed, eating foods prepared by others, giving up my itinerary to the bus or train company. I think travel has a similar effect on all those who engage in a regular bout of wanderlust.

While in Brooklyn last weekend I found these vintage travel postcards in a well-curated second-hand shop in Williamsburg. These documents of past travels helped me set the tone for my own.

"Flight smooth. Life leisurely in Rome. Have done plenty of sightseeing. More to come.
Am writing on train enroute to Vienna; hence, shaky penmanship."
To Ruth in the Bronx, from Helen.
Postmark illegible.

"We'll never catch up to ourselves, but we're loving these two countries. Weather cool, but fine - fruit trees in bloom." To Betty in Pennsylvania, from Bela & Priscilla.
Dated 3/18, postmark illegible.

"We leave most reluctantly tomorrow after a perfect week here. Hope you have had a good vacation."
To Mr. & Mrs. S., from Betty & Dick.
Postmarked August 6, 1960.