The dog shit scene did it for me. When Emily, in Netflix’s new series – “Emily in Paris” – steps in the do-do, her immaculate pink shoes squishing with that “Oh no, ugh!” sound, I laughed out loud. You see, that happened to me as well. Rounding the corner one gorgeous late fall morning, headed … More I’ll Always Have Paris
To paraphrase Charles Dickens, “It was the best of times, it was when I strolled through the grocery store, leisurely, a flâneur shopping for food with nary a care in the world.” Of course, many cares dominated my life – family, health, concern about the future of the planet. But grocery shopping, or browsing as … More What I Miss Most about My Pre-Pandemic Life
I turn the calendar page and the tiny print at the bottom of the little square reminds me: Thanksgiving, November 26, 2020. After nearly a year of increasing horrors, many deaths, travel restrictions, and just plain fear of a still-mysterious virus, I find myself wondering just what Thanksgiving means to me now. This year, it … More Thanksgiving, in the Time of COVID-19
The dog shit scene did it for me. When Emily, in Netflix’s new series – “Emily in Paris” – steps in the do-do, her immaculate pink shoes squishing with that “Oh no, ugh!” sound, I laughed out loud. You see, that happened to me as well. Rounding the corner one gorgeous late fall morning, headed … More I’ll Always Have Paris
I don’t know about you, but these days I’m feeling a bit constricted by a myriad of circumstances. It’s high summer in Florida, with hurricanes kicking up mischief in the Atlantic, and COVID-19 continuing to sweep through the state with frightening relentlessness. Humidity and the heavy air of impending thunder storms don’t invite much meandering … More Dreams of Flying, or, Armchair Traveling Through Books, LED Screens, and Memories
I’ve been thinking a lot about my mother-in-law Ethel these days, wondering what she would make of the COVID-19 virus, the isolation, the uncertainty. She grew up on a farm in western Wisconsin. And she survived the flu epidemic of 1918, although her father caught it and lost all his hair while still in his … More With Roots In Norway: Fish and Farming in Western Wisconsin, a COVID-19 Reflection
Like most of you, I am getting a bit off kilter here. I mean, after all it is Day 52 for me in COVID-19 lockdown. But I broke that run of strict isolation today. I didn’t want to. But I had to. This morning I dashed out to visit my spine doctor, due to ongoing … More Traveling Back in Time: Memories of Wet Markets – COVID-19 Isolation, Day 52
Unofficially, it’s Day 44 for me. I wish it weren’t. I wish I could frolic on the beach, fly away in an airplane, eat at the Inn at Little Washington, walk the streets of Paris and Oslo and London. But I can’t. And I wouldn’t, even I could. It’s still early days in this pandemic. … More Yes, I’m Still Here: Hanging on, Day 44 of COVID-19 Isolation
CYNTHIA D. BERTELSEN 
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