by beachraven | Nov 30, 2019
First Rain, Monterey, California Thanksgiving evening after dessert, our host passed around paper and pens and asked us to write down things we’re grateful for. I immediately resisted because those games are usually corny to me. But I came up with a few things and...
by beachraven | Nov 22, 2019
Berlin, Germany When I think of surface tension, I’m usually thinking of bugs skipping across water. It’s the attraction between molecules called cohesive forces, but I’ve begun to notice it everywhere. I walked into a room full of people the other...
by beachraven | Nov 16, 2019
Somewherezig, Germany I saw a cigarette butt on the sidewalk. A long butt more than half a cigarette, and I felt a pang, an old urge to pick it up, find a match, and light it. I could feel the smoke surging into my lungs, the instant buzz head clear rush, and I wanted...
by beachraven | Nov 9, 2019
Tiergarten, Biergarten, Berlin, Germany It’s a Sunday afternoon in the beer garden with people laughing and munching wurst, drinking beer and sparkling wine, and teen-girls whispering giggles. I don’t understand the language which gives my mind a break; the pond...
by beachraven | Nov 2, 2019
Zumevhere, Germany I sat in the Paris Bakery, sipping an Americano, eating spinach quiche, and trying to read. Two older men were chatting so loud they might as well have been at my table. The first one went on for some time about his wife and how she’s making him...
