The Sill of the World

This covers the week of 12/8/19 - 12/14/19. aromatic The holiday market is a dense, sweet-smelling mass of pine and cider. Clustered boot...

capoeira On a traffic island, as we wait for the light to change, she demonstrates capoeira moves, fight-dancing at a post. capotain It ...

contending She's giving an outdoor talk, and her voice strives to rise above the wind. context I bump into someone I know quite well...

direction We've been deposited on a platform between two trains. We know that one is set to go south, the other north. But which is whi...

adorning The table is crowned with a vase of lilacs and gladioli. blades They're cheerful and polished, but their smiles seem carved...

droning She writes a song parody and sings it in a bored voice that's even funnier than the altered lyrics. heaviness The WWII memor...

designed A 20-minute walk or a 20-minute subway ride takes me to neighborhoods far apart in architectural style and atmosphere. In one neig...

cheerfully Most of the rooms are in shadow on a rainy day, but the kitchen remains bright and welcoming. formation We try building a ta...

artifacts The clouds look like archaeological findings: pottery shards and splintered spears. carbs Enticed by the display of fat, cream...

bodies We walk along the reservoir in the dark. The water is glossy, and the backdrop is a hard, glittering skyline. One building has a red...

businesslike There are several groups meeting in the atrium. One is for learning Spanish, another for figuring out how to make your home mo...

cadence The barefoot woman on the terrace is singing as she arranges her body into meditative poses. Her voice, clear and high, reminds me ...

boyishly He rehearses his chorus song sweetly and a little goofily. delighting He's delighted by the rides he's taken on the sub...

chip A sunlit, sterile store displays several rows of small devices. flourishes During the subway ride, she asks about each stop and wha...

clarification What at first sounds like the wind crying resolves into choir music broadcast on a radio in a waiting room down the hall. h...

brusque Blunt, cranky, and doesn't care about popular opinion. A pinch of humor in his mouth, lips turned up at the corners. creepy ...

capacities It's possible to keep finding out fun things about people you've known all your life. Like how fiendishly good someone i...

citrine The neon fizzle of lemonade and the odor of fried food at the street fair. cushioned On the subway, he sits with his head nestle...

cradling Held in place by the people around her, she falls asleep standing up in the subway car. enthused Flowers spilling out of the gr...

absented Historic plaques in grotty subway stations. The subway system is teeming with stories no one knows, because people don't like ...