A brief respite

Dear darling readers (if indeed, there are any of you),

This small city girl has hit the big city and, quite to my surprise, I love it! It helps when there's a steady drizzle of fragrant, fresh rain outside the window all night, when there's sweet, cool air in the morning, leaves blushing, dropping, crisping to the ground. It's easy when there's such unimaginable wealth to discover - stores stocked with everything from mastic gum to tahini, sawtooth herb to guava, cold-smoked mackerel to liver-stuffed perogies, sausages, noodles, pastes, and spices representing every nation. There's people - motley and one-toothed, accented and old-worldly, skinny and hipstered. There's restaurants - pho, falafel, sushi, staunchly local. It sets my heart a-flutter.

But, right now, for the first time in my academic career I actually need to focus on what I'm doing. I'm jumping into this with all I've got, which means sometimes there isn't time for other things. So, best beloved blog, I must take a brief respite. I'll be back, don't worry, but later, and maybe not even until a new year is upon us.

Until then, enjoy Fall and food, yourselves and each other.

Alyssa