Postcard from Berlin: 53 Reasons To Go Back

What I'm looking forward to when I'm back in North Carolina.

I’ll be back in North Carolina in less than a month. Yeah, I can’t believe it either. I’ve been “collecting” reasons to go back almost since we got here so here, in its unranked entirety is that list.

1. Durham County Public Library

2. Taking a knitting class at Freeman’s Creative so I can use this ⬆️ new skein that of course I bought without any real plan

3. Big containers of pre-washed salad greens from Costco

4. The good people on the 100 block of Lynch St in Durham and the new neighbors we have not yet met.

5. A winning trio of favorite household cleaners: Dawn dish detergent, Resolve carpet cleaner & Fantastik

6. My real life sisters and my “N” sisters from other misters: Naomi and Nikki-Nicole.

7. Iced coffee/cold brew (meaning ice + cold roast, not a hunk of vanilla ice cream in coffee).

8. Nestor’s backyard

9. My manicurist, Eric

10. Durham Bulls baseball

11. Creamy cold limoncello or afternoon tea with Catherine

12. Small conversations with strangers

13. Smitten Boutique and the Kittens

14. The new persimmon and rose bushes that Grayson and Susannah have been tending.

    

    Sarah D snapped me a picture of the persimmon and sent it!

15. A gentler washing machine

16. Janet’s lilac

17. Decaf drip coffee. I can find decaf espresso but decaf drip is not a thing.

18. Softer water

19. Entire cafes devoid of cigarette smoke

20. My Kitchen-Aid

21. Our dogsitter, Nora. (Highly recommend if you’re Durham local, btw!)

22. Being in a closer time zone to Sarah and Caroline

23. Monuts Biscuits

24. Walks with friends especially Larissa, Heather and

    Holly

25. Single slices of cheese pizza, hot from an oven eaten straight off an aluminum dish.

    

    Photo by Inna Safa on Unsplash - yes not cheese but you get the idea

26. People assuming Nestor is a good dog, instead of assuming he’s aggressive.

27. Our screened-in back porch

28. Inter-library loans

29. My loving Durham family away from family especially Jill, Bev and Sarah.

30. Holiday-themed travel mugs

31. Not having to bite my tongue when someone says something to which the reply is too complicated for my slim German skills. Such as “I didn’t know the strawberries needed to be weighed. At the Edeka near my house, the cashier just scans the QR code.”

32. Meeting

    Melissa Amateis
    for the first time IRL

33. Impossible burgers

34. My dresses, shoes, jackets and boots. Also: Joan’s cape

35. Puffs Plus

36. The mini portable speakers we keep in our kitchen in Durham

37. Drive-throughs

38. North Carolina beaches

    

    View of Pine Knoll Shores beach from side porch of house, looking out to waves

39. Watching the 50th season of SNL on YouTube

40. Thanksgiving with my sisters, their girls and my Dad

41. Salt & Pepper bagels with Szechuan chili cream cheese from Isaac’s Bagels

42. My massage therapist, Tatiana

43. Trying out the Amtrak train & DRX express bus between Durham and Raleigh

44. Bathrooms I don’t have to pay for i.e. the ones at Starbucks or Panera

45. Teeth cleaning

46. Smuckers Creamy Peanut Butter

47. Air conditioning

48. Websites automatically loading in English

49. Big (king) pillows and…

50. tall / long beds

    

    The World’s Best Pistachio Croissant from Cafe Matáro in Berlin

51. Homemade lavender syrup. Pistachio is HUGE here (and I LOVE it!) but lavender somehow has a “season” that lasts 0.5 seconds

52. My orchids that Debbi has been caring for since I left

53. North Carolina is Home.

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Reading Recommendation: Be Ready When The Luck Happens by Ina Garten

Garten is a gem when talking about creating: recipes, spaces, houses, gardens, television shows. We came for her story but listen for these nuggets. Red wine vinegar in lentil soup? Ina says “yes”.

And- if you need a strong girl power read, let me recommend The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis, a debut novel that absolutely dazzles with originality. I read an advance copy (my review here) but pre-order because it comes out June 24 August 5!

Recommended Link: Reclaiming Shame, Pain, Power: a conversation about Lidia Yuknavitch’s first memoir as film

I bought very few books here in Berlin but The Chronology of Water was one of them. Lidia Yuknavitch’s first memoir is full of contradictions. Blunt and sharp, ugly and very tender. And it’s one of the only memoirs I’ve read where I’m like, “YES! Make THIS person’s hell into a two hour feature film!” but there are many elements that will transition to the screen so perfectly that I’m down. Kristen Stewart directing, a fabulous female cast AND Jim Belushi as Ken (“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”) Kesey? Here for it.

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“Things take the time they take. Don't worry.

How many roads did St. Augustine follow

before he became St. Augustine?”

― Mary Oliver

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