They say the mountain people on the island of Crete still measure the walking distance from village to village in the number of cigarettes a man smokes while walking. I don’t smoke. I’m an American ex-pat who gets by driving a cab. I don’t know how many...
Photo by Zoey Punteney The Corkscrew is in a quaint little commercial area called Rockbrook on 108th and Center, just off the interstate. The shop is in a glorified strip mall with a brick facade and a lovely shaded patio that faces west. I’m alone and elect to sit...
“Annapolis, Maryland” by m01229 is licensed under CC BY 2.0 For sale at the arts market: golden Coors carved into blue crabs, lavender bundled from beachside gardens, Cheerio-shaped glass pendants—one sweet with the same amber color that black hair makes...
“Nubble Light and Rushing Water” by Eric Kilby is licensed under CC BY 2.0 It turned out there were two vacation spots in coastal Maine boasting the name Anchorage. One was the quaint, upscale resort along the Marginal Way in Ogunquit that was my mother’s...
Photo by Stinglehammer, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Travelogue 1: A tropical girl’s month in Scotland (and England) It’s summertime, they said. / Damn, it was cold. / I tried tomato soup— / blargh, never again. // I needed to smoke. // My cousin...
Photo by Prosthetic Head – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0 At almost 22 years old, I still hadn’t had a real boyfriend. My love life up to that point consisted of unrequited crushes, celebrity obsessions, and a few random hook-ups, my virginity zapped by a guy who’d told...
