The sun doesn't rise up in the morning and set in the evening here. It moves sideways across the sky, hovering close to the horizon throughout the day. It keeps you teetering between wakefulness and sleep. Dreamtime. It's how I feel in my body these days, half-awake, half-asleep, hovering like the sun, moving sideways instead... Continue Reading →
I was invited to be a writer-in-residence at NES in Skagaströnd, Iceland for the month. So right now I'm living at the base of the mountain, Spákonufell. It's stunning. How I got here: I took an overnight flight from Boston, landed in Reykjavík at 6AM and stayed put for two nights, acclimating to (and reveling... Continue Reading →
"Out of a deep cut, opened in a biography, a new being comes into the world," writes French philosopher, Catherine Malabou, in the book I am currently devouring, The Ontology of the Accident: An Essay on Destructive Plasticity. When my world crumbled six years ago, I began rebuilding almost immediately. I thought it was a... Continue Reading →
Today I climbed Y Consti. The fog was thick. The path completely still. There was a biting silence as I stood at the top. I held a heart-shaped locket filled with a tiny bit of my late husband’s ashes. I opened it and let the ashes float out over the Irish Sea. I knew it... Continue Reading →
It's spring in Wales, though for this Vermonter, I wouldn't call the last few months "winter." I mean, okay, it snowed a few times, but no studded tires needed. And in the town limits of Aberystwyth, no shovels either. I posted a picture of my dog on Facebook a few days ago and people from... Continue Reading →
You can walk to Borth from Aberystwyth, although Beesly and I have not yet attempted it. Perhaps when it's a little warmer we will venture up the hill, Y Consti, and wander along the cliffs above the sea. In the fall, I was lucky enough to catch a ride to Borth and stand on the... Continue Reading →
I've always walked to get thoughts worked out in my mind. Sometimes I like to talk out loud to myself. In the city, New York or Ljubljana, I wore earbuds so it looked like I was on the phone, but really I was trying to verbally parse apart something for myself--a problem that needed resolving.... Continue Reading →
My Welsh buddy and I went to the car park--or mud pit with ditches and remnants of stone walls-- so I could "have a go" at driving on the opposite side of the car. It was the perfect place for me to begin. After thirteen years in rural Vermont, I was used to driving on... Continue Reading →
I used to suffer from pretty bad anxiety. My late husband, Jay, suffered from depression. He always told me that anxiety and depression were two sides of the same coin. When he died, though, my anxiety seemed to disappear. It was as though he "took it with him" I used to say. But now, almost... Continue Reading →
Some key people in my life here in Wales live in towns along one road that leads from Aberystwyth to Machynlleth. So I've gotten to know the road--the A487. I hadn't been out of this small university town by the sea for the first three months of my stay. Then my very kind landlady, who... Continue Reading →
Kelley McKenna 