I have been in Nanjing almost a week now, teaching English composition in the mornings and, until today, sleeping in the afternoons because my body could not wrap its little brain around the idea of being 12 hours off its normal schedule. I would get back from class by hook or by crook (Southeast University’s … More On Ignorance
I was trying to capture the spider veins of these mountains, exposed by snow, and only saw the envelope of the atmosphere later.
Speeding out of Shanghai at 187 mph on a spotless, incredibly fast smooth train, hurtling past apartment buildings, some old and ramshackle, some massive and undistinguished, and some with architectural details that make them intriguing, like little Chinese roofs perched on top of multi-story buildings. Some look almost Italianate, with yellow walls and terracotta tiles … More Riding the speeding bullet
When you’re a foreigner, without the language but more importantly without the cultural knowledge to understand or respond appropriately to sharks, you get skinned. This story is about sharks and dolphins in the same Shanghai waters. I got off the plane from Chicago yesterday, and right after the document check and picking up my massive … More Getting through the sharks
I just want everyone to know that Barack Obama is moonlighting as the Voice of O’Hare Airport. Exact same voice, timbre, speech rhythms and coolness. Who knew?
Some days are meant for waiting. There seems to be very little other point to them. But if you’re lucky, somewhere in the endless minutes stretching formlessly into each other, you stumble across something that truly startles you. Today was one of those hurry-up-and-wait days. I got up at 3:30 to hurry to the Knoxville … More Waiting
Originally posted on Marjorie Turner Hollman:
Summer flowers, comfortable bench along the Blackstone River Bikeway We took our tandem down to Woonsocket, RI to the Blackstone River Bikeway early this morning in the cool of the day. Summer is still with us and the shady portions of the trail felt wonderful as we sailed along. Lots…
My last post did finish abruptly. I have been occupied for the past few days and unable to write. I’ll try now. On that Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 2016, I was there with a group of moms and dads from Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. It was bitterly cold as I … More Outside the Comfort Zone 2
My cousin raised an interesting question yesterday, as he so often does. After I described my encounter with an out-of-control teen neighbor who threatened violence and spat on me (in the context of his having cursed and abused another neighbor, perfectly nice guy), he asked, “Where is it written that you should intervene?” I’ve been … More Living in the village
I live in Knoxville, Tennessee. Knoxville is one of Southern Appalachia’s three “capitals,” the others being Asheville, NC and Roanoke, VA. The three are very different cities for historical reasons. Knoxville is actually not in the Appalachian Mountains. Instead, it is in the valley carved by the junction of the Holston and French Broad rivers … More Outside the Comfort Zone
Em Turner Chitty 