Dropping the Shell
Leave a commentMay 8, 2021 by ellie892
Arrival: December 24
The Chicago cats are fine. My daughter left the keys bundled in a pot on the back porch. Disguised to look like poo. The cats were alone for only a few hours. There was nothing eventful about the flight. Had a twenty – four hour layover in Lisbon where everything was wet and foggy. Saw the subway stations. Went to the Vasco da Gama Mall with a woman from Xian who was studying Porteguese… we ate rice and fish at the food court. Nothing exciting, but I’ll return in late January and spend a few days. Then again in April 2020 to visit family.
Chicago is cold. I walk to the neighbourhood IHoP where I eat pancakes and bacon. I feel a sadness in the air. It is Christmas Eve morning. It must be my own loneliness. Travel is not always glamourous. I recall a young Arabic man in Budapest trying to enjoy another breakfast alone. I asked to sit with him. He was more than happy. He thought solo travel would be more fun, but he said he never felt more alone. I suggested he go to the Szechenyi Thermal Baths because it was his last day in Hungary. He looked happy when I saw him later. These feelings of despair are fleeting. Chicago does not have such bath houses. Just comedy clubs.
blue festive lights on trees
red netting on iron fences
cinnamon bark angel
Alleyway Letters 