Democracy in Chains In no way is this a political blog, but I mention a book everyone should wade through: Democracy in Chains, The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America, by Nancy MacLean. (Amazon link) MacLean is Professor of History and Public Policy at Duke University, and has experienced the sad … Continue reading A Slog Worth Slogging
Author: Evelyn Mitsunaga
Evelyn is a retired industrial hygienist/occupational toxicologist living in Silicon Valley. She writes stories about her travels and about the absurdities of everyday life.
Inked
I don’t understand the allure of tattoos. Why desecrate one’s body? Our bodies are a miracle held together by the largest organ, skin. Best to stay natural. But tattoos are common now, so I try to keep an open mind. Except when someone posts a picture of a guy with all sorts of lines tattooed … Continue reading Inked
Taking the Train
The southbound 12:07 eased out from the San Francisco station, and I slowly relaxed in sync with the turning wheels. The station had been nervous-making, hectic and crowded except for the one corner that a homeless soul had commandeered while he methodically scratched up one side and then down the other side of his abdomen. … Continue reading Taking the Train
Oh Well, I’m Flexible
Next Time I’ll Read the Signs. Yosemite. A family road trip just like years ago––only this time my husband and I are old enough to have a free lifetime pass and our sons, both single and childless, are in their 40s. We beat the crowds to the Camp Curry registration desk, where we are greeted … Continue reading Oh Well, I’m Flexible
I Remember One Week in a June
I forgot––when I picked up that flat box, the last one on the Farmers’ Market table barely filled with green grape-like gooseberries, remembering all the times my mother had mentioned gooseberries and trying to remember what she said about them and then excitedly telling my husband that I definitely wanted to buy it so he … Continue reading I Remember One Week in a June
Stones Not Collected
Stones, my favorite keepsakes. When my suitcase is not at the weight limit, stones make a nice little travel remembrance to bring home. Not from a National Park, mind you. And I'll never take a piece of lava home from Hawaii. Here is why. When I read my Stones story (link) at the Wednesday afternoon … Continue reading Stones Not Collected
Stones
Home from Greece, jet-lagged, I move like a robot. I empty my suitcase, filling the laundry basket. From a corner of my luggage, I pull out a small plastic bag that I had stuck there and then forgotten. Stones: a pure white one, a couple striated with the gray-blue of a cloudy sky, and another, … Continue reading Stones
Water So Blue––Greece, Sept. 2014
I really didn’t know the water could be that blue, take-my-breath-away-beautiful blue. On board the small boat, the handsome Greek captain stood at one end of the sitting/dining room and finished his safety briefing. Then his voice took on a nervous quality; he had something to tell his 46 passengers that he seemed afraid to … Continue reading Water So Blue––Greece, Sept. 2014
A Bar Not As Good
The Clark Bar looked so inviting on the shelf, until I took a bite. Not as good: childhood sweets don’t taste the same sixty-five years later. The candy bar at $1.29 was the cheapest thing I could find in the Bass Pro Shop, a store so huge that even 14-foot rowboats stacked outside look small. … Continue reading A Bar Not As Good
Give and Take in Africa––a Tale of Two Kills
Leopard. TK glanced at the shivering group in his open-sided Land Rover, then took the wheel. “African massage,” he shouted back at his swaying passengers as the jeep rocked and rolled over the rutted dirt road this early morning. His head hung over the windowless door, eyes focused on the ground. He stopped the jeep, stepped down, … Continue reading Give and Take in Africa––a Tale of Two Kills
Travel Tales amongst my Ramblings 