I Would Have Said It Differently

Manyu called me from her sister’s apartment to let me know she’d arrived in Taiwan safely. She also told me that she’d read the first half of my new book on the airplane. This is a big deal for both of us. English is not Manyu’s first language, and reading in English...

A Trip to AIT

Last Friday I drove Manyu to the airport for her annual trip to Taiwan. She wanted me to go with her even more than usual, but our elderly dog has become increasingly dependent on me, and I wasn’t willing to leave him with someone else at this stage in his life. Manyu...

Trout Fishing in America

It has been a long while since I’ve read a book I could not put down. The question is whether the difference is me or the books.  The Natural, Catch-22, The Name of the Rose, The Razor’s Edge, Shoeless Joe, O Pioneers!, Trout Fishing in America,* Cannery Row. These...

No Christmas Tree

My family didn’t put up a Christmas tree this year. It might be a first. As far as I remember, we’ve had a tree every year since Clare was born, and that includes the year we were living in Taiwan. Several factors went into this decision, none of them big enough to...

Complicated Text

Once a year I try to read Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Essays. I used to open the book to a random page, but lately have been going straight to the essay “Self-Reliance.” I might go back to my old approach, because “Self-Reliance” has become a dead end for me. Time and again...
Steven Simpson