occasional posts by risa aratyr
thoughts, news, and items of writerly interest
Hello, New York and that sweet day in Princeton behind us, we left the Big Apple and headed upstate for Roy’s 50th college reunion. I’m not a reunion kind of gal. I’m not even a graduation kind of gal. The last time I walked with my class was at the end of 8th grade on … Read more The Rocky Road to ReUnion
Rolling north on the Silver Star, An endless olio Of trees, street lamps, and telephone lines Sweeps by me into the past. A steepled church, a mounded field, A Main Street straight out of 1902, A small neon sign on a deserted bar On the wrong side of the tracks, A scintillant pool, two girls walking … Read more Rolling North on the Silver Star
New York – Round 1 was a 3-day stay with travel at both ends. In the middle was a completely free, no-plans day, ideal for the side-trip I had hoped, but never dreamed we’d be able to take. Wednesday 17 May, we boarded a train for Princeton, to see Uncle Dan. By all rights, Uncle … Read more A Proper Goodbye
When your travel-holiday starts with a huge leap, it’s nice to land in a spot that allows you to pause and acclimate. First leg of our 2011 “Land of Our Fathers” tour, for example, we took a massive leap from California to the Netherlands that landed us in semi-familiar territory: English-speaking, tourist-friendly, cultural-cousin Amsterdam, where … Read more New York – Round 1
We’re off on a 33-day, cross-continental journey, my husband Roy and I. (I’d call it a “grand tour,” but I believe that term is reserved for a different continent.) Whether this is a brilliant idea or a questionable one, time will tell. It’s ambitious, certainly, especially for a couple of old folks like us. Broad … Read more On Holiday