Tag Archive: holidays

Merry Christmas and Happy Eating (3 min read)

Hello and merry Christmas my friends! I hope this finds you warm and cozy, as this year’s Once in a Lifetime Storm battles our coats and window panes, making America’s dogs wish they… Continue reading

Tradition you can Taste

When my grandfather talked about wringing the neck of a chicken, we listened with moderate horror and more-than-moderate fascination. I was particularly confounded and titillated by his gesture of grabbing it by the… Continue reading

Your New Holiday is Here

Holidays tell the stories of those who celebrate them, so when Thailand celebrated its 3-into-1 Loy Krathong festival a few weeks ago, it mirrored the blending of history, religion, and ancestral veneration in… Continue reading

Different Holiday, Same Message

My favorite part of Thailand’s Loy Krathong festival wasn’t the enormous street market the first night, though the long rows of artwork, clothing, and sparkly souvenirs that filled the core of Chiang Mai’s… Continue reading

International Women’s Day in Cuba

The magazine’s reception desk was empty when we arrived, but we could hear voices not far away. My former partner and I had come to Cuba during the heady days of Obama’s second… Continue reading

Nourishment

Thank goodness for the dog. My couchsurfing host in Vitoria, in the Spanish Basque country, was taking a class on medieval iconography whose final field trip was the next day, and she wanted… Continue reading

King’s Day Anyway

The Dutch sky hadn’t decided if it was going to rain or not when I snuck out of the hotel around six in the morning. The student staff of the best hotel in… Continue reading

Thanksgiving

Turkeys, football, and construction paper imitations of pilgrim shoes and Indian headdresses, that’s where childhood’s Thanksgiving began. Oh childhood. Oh 1980s.   Then I learned about genetically modified turkeys that can’t reproduce naturally,… Continue reading

Yes, Valentine’s Day kinda sucks. But.

Can we all agree: Valentine’s Day sucks? Okay, not completely. Some wonderful love stories will begin or advance today, some wonderful memories celebrated and refreshed. But outside of the outliers, it kinda blows.… Continue reading

Christmas Eve in Vietnam

The food vendors stood out. But they’re a salient part of Vietnamese streets and downtown districts every other day of the year too. The piles of bright strawberries or tart green mangos, heaps… Continue reading