à la carte spirit by ilona fried
Memory
For My Father’s 90th, Musings on Love and Loss
My father would have turned 90 on June 15. A few months after he died in 2003, I discovered this photograph of him from 1949 or 1950. He’s 19 or 20, posing in a beret, wool coat and tailored pants. His shoes gleam. His wide stance suggests confidence. His sly grin hints that he’d just … Continue reading
In a Crisis, Old Memories Cycle into the Present
Yesterday I cycled into Northampton for the first farmer’s market of the season. The ride is about 30 minutes, mostly flat or downhill. It was my road biking debut, rather than using a bike path (to which I drive). At the market I stood in a socially distanced line for half an hour before I … Continue reading
My Toilet Paper Quest Unraveled an Ancient Memory
Ever since I walked El Camino de Santiago, I have had an aversion to buying products in bulk. Stocking up, stockpiling, or hoarding doesn’t make me feel safe or secure. Rather, that behavior makes me feel stifled, crowded and weighed down, as if fear or scarcity is occupying too much space in my nervous system. … Continue reading
With Money on My Mind, It Slipped from My Sight
If someone had observed me as I traveled in Spain, they might have wondered why I gave myself several TSA-style pat downs daily. Before leaving an AirBnB, exiting a pool locker room, restaurant or museum, or at any moment of transition, I’d double or triple check my zippered pockets – of my pants, jacket or … Continue reading
When Ambition Renders Others, and the Truth, Invisible
The SCOTUS hearings dragged the country through a new low and in the process, dredged up memories from my hippocampus. What follows is not salacious or violent. A very long time ago I dated a smart and ambitious colleague. On one of our first dates, if not the very first, he bought tickets to a … Continue reading
à la carte spirit by ilona fried 
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