Stories by Patricia Furstenberg
Travel, History, Fiction ~ Romania & South Africa ~ 'For what is wind, but the amassed power of words long ago uttered?'
Word goes between the South African students that when the fragrant Jacaranda trees bloom in Pretoria it is time to start studying for the end of year exams…
Continue reading “The Fragrant Jacaranda Trees of Pretoria”
I am telling you, time stands still in Romania – or in any other place in the world, if one was born there. So let’s all take kindly to it.
We have snapshots saved in our mind, of trees in autumn or summer sunsets peeking between traffic, of old buildings and tramway rides, snapshots accompanied by scents and sounds. Lindens in bloom, snow crunching underfoot, hot summer dancing over asphalt, the first tram echoing in rhythm each morning. Easy to remember, yet forgotten until we spot the same place again, hear the same chime, or a scent washes over us, two decades later. Time stands still in the spot where one was born.
A Romanian saying goes like this: eternity was born in a hamlet. And how much truth lies in it…
Continue reading “Time Stands Still in Romania and Taking Kindly to It”
It took almost eighteen years for our kinda pink, kinda magenta, yet (almost) always sunny Bougainvillea to grow from a small plant till it covered an area of approximately nine square meters.
I guess growing a bougainvillea flower (called bracts) is a matter of faith, although it is a drought-tolerant vine. For at least five or seven years after plating it, the bougainvillea was just a brown stick with leaves. But we hoped, forgotten about it, then hoped some more.
Continue reading “Kinda Pink and Sunny Bougainvillea”
The solitary Corvin Castle hides many secrets and legends, all guarded by historical doors. If this is your first visit, then do open Corvin Castle’s most ancient door too, and read what stories this kinda old fortress inspires.
Continue reading “Corvin Castle, Kinda Historical Doors”
I discovered this picture I took looking out of the Kinda Old, Corvin Castle, and remembered the question that haunted me, what story do these old stones tell?
Continue reading “Kinda Old, Corvin Castle and a Story”
We are two of a kind, my daughter and I, yet as time flies quietly I discover how different we are. We are like a rose bush growing alongside a grapevine. The rose, blooming all year round in this South African favorable weather, is always giving, sharing joy and quiet smiles. The grapevine takes full advantage of spring, encouraged, a miracle boosting with life from one day to the next. Take your eyes off and you miss its rarity. Time flies quietly.
Continue reading “Two of a Kind, Time Flies Quietly”
We imagine our life as a continuous journey.
We picture ourselves following a sinuous track, using various means of transport. Some travel as solitary cyclists, others prefer the train, with friends and family alongside. Few journey by foot. Most of us accustomed to accept fellow travelers as partners or companions in our journey.
Continue reading “Life as a Journey, October Squares”