Our plane landed in Naples just as the sun started to set. Vesuvius loomed over the city as we sped out of town, the volcano turning deeper and deeper shades of purple in the fading light. We were heading towards my grandfather’s village. I suppose it eventually became my grandmother’s village, too, after she married him…
On our last morning in Germany, we went to Seeshaupt. I was absolutely not drunk, but some of my photos seem to suggest otherwise. I can only assume that wandering around a picturesque lake on a quiet morning has an intoxicating effect on me, and that I shouldn’t drive after visiting one. I also shouldn’t drive…
I’ve had one of those weeks that, looking back on it, seems sort of absurd. Yesterday, Rand and I walked along a beach, staring out onto the Pacific Ocean, up on Whidbey Island. And he noted how just 24 hours before, we’d been walking on a beach along the Atlantic. I wrinkled my brow. “No,…
I finished The Bartender’s Tale on the flight to Germany, at some nameless hour high above the North Pole. I decided to leave it with my dad, but there was one snippet I wanted to hang onto. So I took a photo of it. – Pretty easy to guess which part, I fell in love…
As an American, it’s often weird going to Europe, because their consumer culture isn’t anywhere near what we have at home. There are shops, sure, but there isn’t the same onslaught of … stuff. In the U.S., we understand that you haven’t really had a proper vacation until you’ve purchased at least three shot glasses,…
My dad lives in a small Bavarian village about an hour outside of Munich. I usually don’t blog about it, even though it’s crazy adorable, because it’s also immensely sleepy and boring. The little hamlet shuts down after 6 or 7 pm on weekdays. And pretty much all day on weekends. And Mondays, too. It’s…
It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Bavarian, and all Rand wanted to do was go to Garmisch. He wanted to sit in the sunshine in a picturesque Bavarian town and do nothing all morning, besides eating a pretzel or three. “But we’ve been to Garmisch a dozen times,” I whined. “That’s because Garmisch is amazing.”…
This week in Seattle has been positively gorgeous. We’re having a spring heatwave, which happens approximately never. It’s been amazing and also really confusing, because I keep grabbing a cardigan when I leave the house, even though there’s no way I could need it (sometimes I wear the cardigan anyway, though, just to … prove…
I have trouble describing my dad. He’s not incredibly cheerful, but he isn’t melancholy, either. I don’t think anyone would call him warm, nor would it be accurate to say that he’s unfriendly. If I were forced to put his demeanor into words, I’d say he’s rather serious, and often rather annoyed. His annoyance usually…
Tales of Food, Feminism, and Fury
by Geraldine DeRuiter
Paperback Available March 11th
Also available in hardcover, e-book, and audiobook from these booksellers:
