Jane Merryman

a fish trapped inside the wind*

Archive for March, 2006

Bread and Tea

Posted: Friday, March 17th, 2006 @ 12:03 pm in Travel, Uzbekistan | Comments Off

“Don’t eat that!”
I have just expressed a desire to order my first helping of plov, the Uzbek national dish of rice and various combinations of vegetables, fruit, nuts, and meat—each region proud of its unique concoction.
“It’s too heavy, too oily, for your American stomach. Work up to it,” says my guide, Nail, in his version […]

Highland Caper

Posted: Thursday, March 16th, 2006 @ 2:02 pm in Travel | Comments Off

A few years ago, on a lonely road in the highlands of Scotland , I did something I never do at home—I got into a car with two men I didn’t know.
On the fourth day of a trek on the West Highland Way, from Loch Lomond to Fort William, the group leader gave us a […]

Sass

Posted: Thursday, March 16th, 2006 @ 12:48 pm in Mini Book Reviews | Comments Off

Alberto Manguel . A History of Reading. 1996.
As I drove through Penngrove a few days ago, I noticed on the side of the road a couple of red flags that warned of a new stop sign ahead. In Europe such a caution would be a black and yellow sign with a big fat exclamation point […]