A Writer Afoot

As you may have guessed, I’ve gone slightly underground to finish the book-in-progress, 100 Breakfasts, which is due in six short weeks.  Last weekend, I spent three days in Pasadena, mostly holed up with the manuscript, combing and combing, unbraiding and reweaving.   In the spirit of my friend Anne Stuart, who often keeps track of [...]

This morning, memories of various travels are wafting through my mind. 

 
-The clever bathroom in Naples, where the long doors opened on to the street and the bay and Vesuvius in the far, purple distance, a mountain with a bite out of the top. 
–The moppet of a youth who was learning how to lead hikes on [...]

This morning, I’m wondering when the box of books I sent home to myself will ever get here!  I collected a lot of books at the conference, of course, but since I was limited to that single suitcase and backpack, there was no room to carry books with me.   Two of those books are signed [...]

This became very long.  Sometimes, a musing requires more time.  I hope you’ll enjoy walking with me through the outback.
Since my return from Oz, the memory images that rise most insistently are about the days at Ylarra.    When I finally emptied my suitcase, the bottom was covered with a fine layer of red dust, and [...]

Internet access–and time–became severely limited the final week of our long, insanely wonderful Aussie tour.   Since last Sunday, I have been on six flights, covering thousands of kilometers, visited the Outback, Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, and Sydney, and now I’m typing this from my own laptop while I await Flickr to upload the photos [...]

Uluru is a place you have undoubtedly seen photos of.   That big red rock in the middle of the desert, where herds of wild camels roam through the outback, and the land isn’t even slightly barren, and our fair heroines rode a camel through the dawn.
(Only none of them will upload, so they’ll [...]

One more note on Tassie: we saw the famed Tasmanian Devils.   Check out these adorable little faces:
They were waiting for lunch, which was hunks of wallabee (fur still attached) and furry little baby chickens.   Watching them eat, you suddenly understand the Walt Disney Tasmanian Devil, swirling around in that whirlwind, all flying spit [...]

It occurs to me that I still have not posted anything about trees.  It is well known that i have a bit of a tree fetish, given that I was raised in place where we have three varieties.  Pines, aspens, and cottonwoods.  Very nice trees, of course, but still only three.  (Okay, there are elms, [...]

There always comes a day during my travels when I have a little crash, emotionally or physically, or (often) both.   Suddenly, in the midst of all my pleasures I am suddenly aware of being 8000 miles from home, from my tomatoes and my morning walk and a phone I can pick up to dial [...]

I’ve crept out out of the hotel room, leaving behind my sleeping roommates, and am writing this from the lobby of the Hobart Quest Hotel.  Last night, we sought out the Lark Distillery, where we sampled the local specialties, some whiskey for the others and a taste of the pepperberry (?) liquor, which one of the [...]