Nicki Chen's Blog, page 8

Novels & Short Stories

When I sit down with a cup of coffee and a book, normally the book is a novel. This month I’ve been reading The Murderbot Diaries, a delightful series, even for someone like me who seldom reads science fiction. What about short stories, though? Does anyone read them anymore? When we were young children, all […]

A Winter Walk without Airpods

When did I start using AirPods on a solo walk? Three or four years ago? Maybe more. I started out listening to music, which was nice but not entirely satisfactory, especially when a favorite song made me want to sing along, or even worse, dance down the street. Then I got in the habit of […]

Pearl Harbor Wasn’t the Only Target on Dec. 7, 1941

  For most of my life, I thought the only country the Japanese attacked on December 7, 1941, was my own, the United States of America. In my defense, the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was an enormous event for the United States. Within the short period of ninety minutes, 2403 Americans were killed and […]

New Places Near and Far

Over the years, I’ve enjoyed traveling to faraway places, seeing and experiencing, cities, towns, and sights that were new to me, talking to new people, making new friends. But there are also places nearby that I’ve never seen. The world is so full of a number of things, I’m sure we should all be as […]

Earliest Memories of My Mom

My earliest clear memory of Mom is of her absence. She’d left Dad and me behind to give birth to my sister in a hospital in a nearby city. She and the baby stayed there for several days—as was the custom at the time, and Dad took care of our dinners. Scrambled eggs. Every night. […]

A Massage & a Waterfront Walk

Like all massage rooms, this one has green plants, a lovely picture on the wall, and relaxing music. It also has a large window looking out on the waterfront. When you’re undressing and climbing onto the massage table, you can see Puget Sound, the sky, and the Olympic Mountains. You might see clouds and boats […]

The Future Is Real

When I was a preteen, my dad built a boat. Dad was a carpenter who built houses all day long. And then, after dinner, not every day but often enough, he went out to his shop to “play”– to build a spice rack or a stool or to try out a new saw. One day, […]

Whose Story Is It?

In late May, a woman asked the advice columnist at the New York Times Magazine if it was ethical for her to write about a murder she witnessed. It was the right place for her question. The Ethicist, is a column written by Kwame Anthony Appiah, a professor of Philosophy and Law at New York […]

Hiking, a NW Summer Essential

Hiking in the forest, hiking along a creek or river, hiking to a waterfall. No Northwest summer is complete without a good hike in the forest. I also like the beach of course. But beaches here are mainly good for walks and ferry rides. With an average water temperature in Puget Sound of 63 degrees […]

If a Tree Falls in the Forest …

You probably know the rest of that question. If a tree falls in the forest and nobody’s around to hear it, does it make a sound? It was mentioned on the radio as I was driving back from a birthday party at my daughter’s house in Tacoma. We’d just finished a fantastic little party—a delicious […]