How did I come to be living in Italy?

A friend just asked me how I came to be living here. It’s hard to pick a place to start the story. There are dozens of flashes through my synapses when I’m asked the question– little photons that to me seem part of the whole picture but probably aren’t relevant to anyone but the most […]

Mission Accomplished

I’m trying to make sense of the strong emotions I feel about the Mars rovers. I don’t remember hearing that Spirit went offline in 2010, and I didn’t realize that Opportunity stopped communicating last June. Appropriately it came to rest in an area called Perseverance Valley. I do remember watching the coverage when Spirit landed […]

Can an American woman do this?

I recently heard about a couple of guys who left established careers– one an engineer and one in finance– and went back to university to study music.  Wow, I thought. That would make a great subject for my podcast! “I Always Wanted to go back to school to study _____.” I loved the idea. It […]

Strange Missing Holiday

All this week I’ve had an almost physical sensation about the approaching holiday. It’s like knowing it’s “back to school” time when the seasons change even when it has been MANY years since you were a student. But around here I’m the only one feeling it because Italians don’t celebrate Thanksgiving. You don’t see coolers […]

When Nobody’s Listening

Do you ever get the feeling that you’re invisible? You make a good point or offer a wise suggestion and people simply talk over you. Maybe someone says the exact same thing you just said and everyone hears and agrees, leaving you standing there shaking your head or checking to see if you’re still corporeal. […]