I took an intro to creative writing class with Sidney Offit a few years ago. He gave us an assignment. “Write the first chapter of the story of your life.” A student asked, “Does it have to be real?” Sidney shrugged. “You are all characters to me.” There is: a man on the first floor […]
Tag: Queens
Experiments in social distancing (quarantine day: unknown)
A few days a week I run to the top of the tallest hill by my house. (Oh have I mentioned?–I’m a runner now.) The road that goes up the hill is quiet. There are few houses and no shops. A long long time ago glaciers inched across New York State slowly pushing rocks aside […]
Stay-at-home day 12: the backyard
It is nice today and all of the windows in our apartment are open. There are lines of laundry strung out between buildings, pigeons that fly too close to windows, stray cats, two kids playing soccer, a man directly below me doing tai chi in the sun, next door the neighbor tills a small garden […]
How to belong
Last week I was walking through the greeting card aisle in my local Rite Aid when a man stopped me and asked me if I spoke Polish. He needed help understanding one of the greeting cards written in English. (I don’t speak Polish.) This happens more than you might think. Or really, what usually happens […]
Hot in New York City
This summer in New York City is hotter than last summer. I know this because sometimes I walk into our apartment and I think, it is too hot in here. And because some nights I’ve slept on top of all of my bedding. And because I turn my fan up as high as it can […]
