Wednesday June 13, 2017 AJ, B and TwoSon were back on the Tube early the next morning, rubbing elbows with soulless-looking, rushed people on their way to work, nary a smile or smirk among them. Because of a fire in Grenfell Tower in Central London, trains were being diverted and the Tube was especially crowded. Continue reading “Coronation Spoons, Black Jewels, and Dead People in the Church Basement”
Author Archives: ajtanek
A Friendly Spider, Miss Quackers Eats Peas, and Pub Dogs
Tuesday, June 12, 2017 First thing Tuesday morning, the family rushed to the Tube at Marylebone Street Station, hopped off at Paddington Station (yes, as in Paddington Bear) picked up their train tickets to Morton-on-Marsh and stood staring at an ever-changing electronic board among dozens of other commuters eager to discover from which platform theirContinue reading “A Friendly Spider, Miss Quackers Eats Peas, and Pub Dogs”
Spirals, Stoney History, Cool Enlightenment, and Magic
Monday, June 11, 2017 Morning arrived early to Balcombe Street, but couldn\’t wait for the still-slumbering family to rise. It moved on without them and by the time they were ready for their second day in London, they were behind Agenda\’s schedule. “I think we’ll switch today’s and Wednesday’s mornings, because I wanted to getContinue reading “Spirals, Stoney History, Cool Enlightenment, and Magic”
Time Travel and 53 Steps
Sunday, June 10, 2017 AJ flit through the house, picking up wayward items and putting them in their place and stopping periodically to brush cat hair from her jacket and pants. She wiped a counter here, decluttered there. Their flight wasn’t until 4:30pm Chicago Time, which left her ample time to try to leave theContinue reading “Time Travel and 53 Steps”
A Note From the Author
“Yet all experience is an arch where through Gleams that untraveled world, whose margin fades For ever and ever when I move” Ulysses by Tennyson, lines 19-21 Let me step out from behind the curtain of third person point-of-view for a brief moment and speak without the filter. This is challenging … all of it :Continue reading “A Note From the Author”
Below and Above; Darkness and Light
April 8, 2016 The morning greeted the family with a wet grey grimace, but it didn’t matter, where they were going, the rain couldn’t follow. For the last time, they gathered the luggage, stuffed it full of dirty clothes and underutilized, just-in-case items, tidied up the house and packed into the rental car, with oneContinue reading “Below and Above; Darkness and Light”
What the Light Uncovered
April 7, 2016 Thursday morning seeped in through a light, misty rain. After another slow morning the family drove back to Volcanoes National Park for a few smaller sights and shorter trails. Their first stop was at the overlook they had visited on their first visit to the park (April 4), when darkness hid everythingContinue reading “What the Light Uncovered”
Fear, Hiking Volcanic Craters, and A Botanical Expedition
April 6, 2016, Wednesday B woke at 1 a.m. to go star hunting. His absence, the nearness of the jungle, the strangeness of the place, the open windows of the house against the blackness outside, and the eerie creaks of the house amplified by the nighttime quiet set off disquieting alarms in AJ’s mind. SheContinue reading “Fear, Hiking Volcanic Craters, and A Botanical Expedition”
Ever Before
April 5, 2016 Tuesday slipped in cool and slow. Somewhere in the neighborhood, a rooster, hidden by jungle, crowed about the glorious morning, the wild birds stopping their songs to let him have his say. Cereal, coffee, nuts and fruit were waiting in the kitchen. Although she was the only coffee drinker in the house,Continue reading “Ever Before”
A Light in Darkness
April 4, 2016 Crazy-early next morning, B snuck out to the Pololu Valley Overlook for sunrise photos. He returned hours later ripping and raring to go as the family crawled from their rooms. It was their last morning in their Basement Ohana. “Do you want to go the beach a little? It’ll be your last chance toContinue reading “A Light in Darkness”
Not I 