Today millions of Americans have traveled near and far to see their families and loved ones to give thanks for what we have. Whether you’ve just gone over the river and through the woods, or flown across the continent, this annual trek isn’t an obligation. It’s a tradition. The question isn’t really how far you’d travel for a home cooked meal, but when can you get there? After jumping the pond to Paris, going the extra mile to Finale for a few days seems like nothing. It is really about 400 miles and I arrive late Thursday evening just before a big storm. The next morning, I make my way to...

October 30 – Paris, France It is an unusually warm fall morning as I walk the quiet streets of Paris on my way to mass at Notre Dame. The streets are damp from rain the night before but this morning the sky is blue and cloudless. Paris mornings are typically slow, but this Sunday is even more tranquil as I navigate metro closures and join the stream of tourists crowding buses towards the cathedral. I worry I have missed the early mass until someone tells me Europe has “fallen back.” Suddenly I have a full hour to grab a coffee and croissant and look at souvenir stands. Soon the bells announce the...

Photo of the Day Another summer is in the books in Arizona and that means two of my favorite things are back on the regular schedule: Scooters and rocks.  But unfortunately, not at the same time. In Finale, my first Italian scooter ride couldn’t have been better as I jumped on the back of my roommate’s moto with a visiting friend and we sped off toward the rocks. The helmet case was converted into a rope box and we had our gear in one pack. We took the back road out of town careful to avoid the carabinieri – my friend did not have a helmet which is now a big no-no in Italy. On a spring afternoon...

A few years ago I noticed a pole in Finale with some padlocks on it. I thought it was strange but was too focused on getting to the rocks to ask anyone about it. Leave it to the cutest couple in Italy to enlighten me on a part of my beloved Italian city I was only barely aware. Apparently posts and fences in some of Europe’s most romantic cities have become new symbols of love. While no one knows exactly where or how it started, most attribute it to an Italian book and movie “I Want You.” But there are also similar rituals in Serbia and Greece. Whatever the source, it is as timeless a tradition...

A month ago I left Finale and started my journey back to Arizona. I’ve been lost in time and space ever since. My airplane time machine should have just taken me back nine hours, and if I had only been gone a few weeks, I would have adjusted to my present after a few days of strange sleep. But after three months living my dream life, moving backwards wasn’t as simple as sleeping off jet lag. I got off the plane not just 90 days in the past, but 16 years. I was a stranger in a strange land starting my life in desert again. I was confused as Rip Van Winkle. Friends had lost weight, gotten pregnant,...