After years of talking about it, I finally made it to Flushing in NYC and Death Valley! With Eli’s Southwest companion pass expiring, we decided to make the most of it. As expected, the food in Flushing was phenomenal. I made a map of the spots I wanted to visit, but I half suspect you could meander into any food court, restaurant, or street food stand and have some great food. In the future, if I ever have a delayed flight out of LaGuardia, I know exactly where I’m going. With Death Valley, I wanted to tack on a visit while I was in Palm Springs last year, but the timing didn’t work out. I kept seeing articles that a very rare temporary lake had formed. Thankfully, the trip's timing worked out, so I caught some of the temporary lake before it fully evaporated. Next up, Eli and I are headed on a family trip to Italy, and we’re mulling a summer trip to Iceland to see the highlands.
Anyway, aside from traveling around a bunch, I’ve been:
Working on this list of excellent Polish restaurants in Chicago, which gave me a wonderful excuse to revisit my childhood faves.
Making this scallion pancake recipe and freezing extras, for delicious scallion pancake snacks any time.
Finally getting to share the Route 66 road trip in an electric vehicle I took and photographed for National Geographic last year.
Buying up all of the Ishikawa hojichas from Cultivate. We had a ton of this style tea in Kanazawa last year, and I’m so thrilled to have found an online source for it.
Also drinking lots of pureh tea from Yunnan Sourcing. They have sampler options so Eli and I have been trying a wide variety!
Reading a lot and would highly recommend The Gambler (borrowed from the library!) and The Wager.
Organizing some of my favorite photographs from 2023.
Diversions is a newsletter I’ve been writing on and off since 2014 with random thoughts I’ve been stewing on and links I’ve been sharing. These days you can find diversions on substack.
Till next time,
Sandy Noto