Laura and I went our first wine tasting eight years ago, when we went down to Crossing Winery in Newtown, Pennsylvania. We really didn’t know what to expect, honestly, having managed to go through nearly 40 years of life without such experiences. They put us in a room with large barrels lining the walls, poured […]
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Laura and I both grew up in the country. I was in upstate New York and she was in central Pennsylvania. We both went to Tennessee for college and ended up in Chattanooga. We got married, and moved to Pennsylvania. Short version. In all of that time, we never lived “in the city.” Outside the […]
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Our life had been on hold for a few months while we prepared for our trip to Japan, so a lot of the things we had planned to do suddenly became available to us. First and foremost for me was the Circus Drive-In in Wall Township, New Jersey, very near the shore. This location had […]
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by Laura Sanders When we were discussing our itinerary for Tokyo with my sister Hannah, she gave us a number of different options. The zoo and the Sky Tree and the Great Buddha all came up. Kappabashi Street, which I was very excited about. One thing not optional, according to my brother-in-law Dan, was Maricar. […]
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One year for New Year’s, we went to a Japanese place in Bethlehem, called Kome. We had been there a few times before, and thought the hibachi would be just the thing for the family. Rachel and Derek came, Laura’s aunt and uncle and her cousin, and we couldn’t have made a better choice. We […]
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At the path along the river, despite the gloomy day, everything opened up. It was our first full day in Japan. It may have had something to do with the sake tasting we had just left, but already the world was different. It would be a few days before we would do the truly touristy […]
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We sat around my Mother-in-law’s apartment, the six of us: Laura’s sisters Rachel and Hannah, their husbands Derek and Dan, Laura and me. Dan is stationed at Yokota Air Base, and somewhere in the conversation, somebody said something to the effect that we should all meet up with them in Tokyo. Somebody else said it […]
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“Where are you?” Laura said on the phone, through the car’s speakers. Busted. So, so busted. Well, there was no denying it. In these days of Find My iPhone, she really didn’t even need to ask. “Philadelphia,” I said. I was just about to get off on the Broad Street exit of 95. The sun […]
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We passed by the Queen City Diner this morning. It was packed to the gills with customers. “I’ve always wanted to get a shot of this place,” I said to Laura. “But not like this. At night. After it rains. I think that would be perfect.” “Well, you should,” she said. Again, it was just […]
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There are many things that could be said about this year’s Super Bowl, but to sum it all up: everyone outside of New England and those without ties to New England wanted to see the Patriots lose. Not only to lose, but to be embarrassed. For three quarters, we, those who could not bear another […]
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It’s an odd feeling, getting flowers for the strict purpose of watching them decay, but by now, having watched a rose and an iris bite the dust, I was really getting into this new project. I walked in to the florist, feeling vaguely like a predator on the prowl, and carefully selected the new subjects. […]
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