Author: Eric Farber

The Big Trip, Part 6

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Boise – Portland, OR

Today’s drive was really long, not only because of the distance (over 400 miles) but because it rained most of the way. This is not the best time of year to visit the Pacific Northwest. Crossing the entire State of Oregon through the Wallowa Mountains, then the Cascade Range and along the mighty Columbia River is to pass through some of the most splendid scenery in our country. The irony is that today we couldn’t admire much of it because of the weather conditions.

Stopping next to some gas pumps in the town of Pendleton, Oregon, we were surprised when a young girl with crooked teeth and a friendly manner appeared and wanted to pump our gas. This is first time we’ve experienced this service during this entire trip.

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The Big Trip, Part 5

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Denver, CO – Cheyenne, WY

Denver Art Museum

There is a Denver Cultural District with three museums situated adjacent to each other. We won’t say much about the Denver Art Museum except that it was by the architect Daniel Libeskind and looks more like an overwhelming sculpture than a building. Judging by today’s visit, it is also a very attractive venue for school field trips. Inside, there were many kids, some as young as seven or eight, so the atmosphere felt very crowded and noisy.

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The Big Trip, Part 4

Friday, October 19, 201

Rock Island, IL – Amana, IW – Omaha, NE

Due to the rain and fog we saw little of the mighty Mississippi as we crossed a bridge into Iowa, but then the skies cleared quickly and the sun shown behind us, lighting up the countryside in a magical way. Under the right conditions, Eastern Iowa is very beautiful. Tan-colored fields of corn stubble with, here and there, bright white farm buildings are set starkly against the kind of sky one sees in Dutch landscapes. These skies have depth and complexity, layers of greys and whites with occasional glimpses of blue. After yesterday’s gloominess, today’s drive felt so good.

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The Big Trip, Part 3

It occurs to me that if we keep writing these chapters as we are doing, the account of this trip will be book-length by the time we finally return to Istanbul. We didn’t intend this to happen, it’s just that, to paraphrase Mark Twain’s famous comment, we don’t have time to make them shorter. Feel free to skim and skip, as you will.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Joe and Rosalie

The day was sunny and warm. The lovely fall colors of the trees enhanced our three-and-a-half-hour drive to Kalamazoo to vist old friend Joe and Rosalie. An interesting fact is that this is a family that writes. Joe has written several books and short stories. Rosalie has been published, as well. Their daughters all write either for work or for art. Another fact: all three daughters studied abroad.

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The Big Trip, Part 2

Saturday, September 22, 2012

East Aurora, NY – Oakville, Ont.

Our drive to Buffalo and over the Peace Bridge into Canada went smoothly as did the border crossing. In no time we were on the QEW heading for Oakville near Toronto. We arrived at Ralph and Jenny’s new home shortly after noon. We’re very happy to see our friends and to relax in their comfortable surroundings.

Relaxing in Oakville

Jenny has always had more than a casual interest in wine. Recently she enrolled in a program designed for professional wine stewards, and having passed the rigorous three-day exam, now has the skills and knowledge of a true sommelier. She also has a wine cellar, which she designed, to match her skills. Glass fronted and temperature controlled, its contents are a sight to behold.

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The Big Trip, Part 1

What follows are excerpts from a month’s long voyage around the U.S. from August 28th, 2012 until January 2, 2013. Our travels included side trips into Canada and a holiday cruise in the Caribbean. We shaped our itinerary around visits to our far-flung friends and family members. For much of the time, we traveled in a rented motor home, which, to borrow a title from David Foster Wallace, was “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again.” Though I’ll mention friends and famliy in passing (first names only), the intent of this account is to highlight the experience of seeing familiar parts of America after a long absence and unfamiliar parts for the first time. All in all, it was a journey of a lifetime.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

 

Manhattan is like no other city we’ve ever seen. Its mix of people, commerce and both high and low culture confined and compressed in a single island gives it an atmosphere and an energy that is unique. We think of New York City the way Samuel Johnson did about 18th-century London. His dictum: “No sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”

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A Week in Sussex Prior to Crossing to NYC on the QM2

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Istanbul – Heathrow – Felpham, West Sussex

The adventure begins. During our week in England, we’ll be staying with Joan Aubrey-Jones, a woman eight-some-years-young. This will be a challenging day. We each are lugging two suitcases in addition to our backpacks.

The airport is its usual irritating self. Kay had checked us in online yesterday, meaning that all we had to do with our luggage was to drop it at a designated gate. However, we have to wait in a queue for more than 45 minutes until that gate opens.

At Heathrow, we move through the recently expanded terminal quickly enough and are met at the exit by our friend Joan and a taxi driver named Mark, a gentle giant with the largest barrel chest I’ve ever seen. He may be 50 years old and spends a lot of time at the gym. His arms are heavily tattooed and his manner warm and friendly.

At Joan’s house in Felpham I drag our four cases upstairs to a spare children’s room where we can spread out our things.

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Pleasures of a German Spring – 2012

“ . . . everything was thrilling because nothing was the same . . . “

Tom Waits

There is a phenomenon common to us all known as psychological time. I mean that our perception of time passing is a function of what we are experiencing. That time passes more quickly when we are having fun and more slowly when we are bored or watching the clock is a truism. The longest fifteen minutes of my day occurs when I’m running on the treadmill at the gym.

Studies show that when we step out of our daily routines and do new and different things our hours and days seem to lengthen and that they pass more quickly when our routine activities resume.  At home, although I may be doing many things in the course of my day, they tend to be the same things, and the days, weeks, and even months seem to pass very rapidly, too rapidly for someone as conscious of finite time as I’ve become. I have the opposite reaction when I travel. At those times, days seem to pass much more slowly; a week on the road can seem a month long because I’m seeing different sights, hearing different speech, and thinking different thoughts.

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Wintertime 2011 in Paris & Tours

Bourges - St Etienne Cathedral
Bourges – St Etienne Cathedral

A month ago in the French city of Bourges, Kay and I stood in front of a nativity scene in the town’s great, medieval cathedral. There were the figures of Mary, Joseph, the Magi, the shepherds, etc. What was missing on those days before Christmas was the figure of the baby Jesus. Of course, we celebrate the birth of Christ on the 25th of December, so, according to the French, it would be irrational for him to appear before then.

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