Although I am a person who expected to be rooted in one spot forever, as it has turned out I love having the memories of living in many places.

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

One of those flash epiphanies of travel, the realization that worlds you'd love vibrantly exist outside your ignorance of them. The vitality of many lives you know nothing about. I could live in this town, so how is it that I've never been here before today?

All afternoon in the deck chair, I try to describe to my notebook the colors of the water and sky. How to translate sunlight into words?

It's kind of amazing that people will travel because of a book. I admire that.

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.

The Only Thing More Surprising Than the Chance She's Taking... Is Where It's Taking Her.