The longer you are in a place, the more you get under its layers.

Five tender apricots in a blue bowl, a brief and exact promise of things to come.

I would like The Discovery of Poetry to be a field guide to the natural pleasures of language - a happiness we were born to have.

Going to Europe as a budding cook opened my eyes to food in a different way. When I got to Italy, the first thing I did was put my little basil plants in the ground and watch them turn into big, healthy bushes.

Never lose your childish enthusiasm and things will come your way.

Where you are is who you are. The further inside you the place moves, the more your identity is intertwined with it. Never casual, the choice of place is the choice of something you crave.

The urge to travel feels magnetic. Two of my favorite words are linked: departure time. And travel whets the emotions, turns upside down the memory bank, and the golden coins scatter.