THE BEATEN PATH
The dirt road of her childhood still stretches, vivid and imperfect, into the horizon of Crystal Ponti's mind.
PLEASE DON'T LET THAT BUST a hole in the muffler," my mother would appeal to the Lord as gravel pelted the underbelly of our 1978 Lincoln Continental. It's been decades, but I can still hear those tinging rocks. Sometimes, like a strike on a bass drum, a larger stone would spin up into the gut of the car, and we'd gasp, then giggle, relieved when the motorized beast kept right on humming. Only six or seven houses and a few farms sat on our three-mile dirt road, each separated by wide swaths of empty land. Our house was in the center, atop the only hill. The road, its contours hugging field and forest, ran through my hometown of Durham, Maine. Rain turned the top layer into a coating of thick muck, which gave life to the world's best bakery: I'd spend hours making mud pies on the shoulder.
When dry grass grew in the road's ruts, I'd hop barefoot between the verdant patches, bypassing a minefield of rocks, to play with my friend who lived around the bend. The rare car would barrel past, vibrating the earth, and I'd take cover in the ditch, pushing toes into the dirt thrown there, its texture gritty as powdered malt.
Some people see angels in clouds, but I beheld shapes in the dust plume behind our taillights. When it was hot, the ground dried out, forming canyons; it looked as if the earth were separating. In winter, snow hid the road, and even when it was plowed, you had to guess at its curves, splitting the distance between trees to find the way forward.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Volume 3. No 2 - 2023-Ausgabe von The Oprah US.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der Volume 3. No 2 - 2023-Ausgabe von The Oprah US.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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The BEST BOOKS of 2024
We all loved Oprah's Book Club selections this year (did you read them all?), but here are our editors' favorite standouts on the shelves-from the thoughtprovoking to the heartwarming to the hilarious.
The Summer I TOOK My Mom "HOME"
Whenever I tell people about the Last Trip Home I took to Italy with my 87-year-old mother and my older son last summer, everyone has the same response (\"Awwww...\"), which makes me feel like a fraud because I know they're imagining some gauzy scene. And to be fair, I'd tried to plan it that way.
PARIS Made ME DO IT
Travel maybe shouldn't be any different than \"regular\" life, but it is.
LOST And Found IN AMERICA
When I was 21, I spent the summer driving around the United States with my boyfriend. It amazes me, looking back, that I let myself go on that eight-week trip.
I WENT I Saw, HATE
Ten years ago, I went to Tokyo on a lark. I was invited to the opening of the 38-story Aman Tokyo hotel, a beautiful example of urban minimalism and a destination unto itself.
Trips That Changed US All Forever
Me, MOM, And A Thousand SEABIRDS
Dear Biohackers, The Secrets to Longevity Are Simpler Than You Think
In a world of health trackers built to optimize, we propose choosing joy over deprivation and community over navel-gazing. The research agrees.
The Menopause Makeover: For When "Aging Gracefully" Gets Old
Because literally everything-from eyelids to neck skin to boobs to butt-falls off a cliff. Here, a dozen interventions women in this life stage are embracing.
Why I Cut Off All My Hair
The author of City of Girls and Big Magic talks about how she made the bold decision to break out the clippers in order to find her own version of beauty.
The Perfect Gift Book for Everyone on Your List
Sumptuous reads that look as lovely on your coffee table as they do on your bedside table.