I grew up in Rhode Island, and everyone I knew was a child or grandchild of immigrants. My grandparents came from Portugal and Ireland. My Portuguese grandparents went to visit their family members in Portugal often. I love the traditional music of Portugal and Ireland, but I feel no pull to those places. My parents stressed speaking English, so I never learned Portuguese, but I wish I did. I love languages and studied both French and Spanish for many years (those languages were options in school, along with Italian and Latin).

I've often seriously thought about leaving the US, as the capitalist, consumer-driven culture is empty of meaning. I lived in Hawaii for 16 years, and loved it, as the native Hawaiians do not identify as US citizens, and work to get their lands returned to their custody. But, the wealthy have taken over the islands, making it almost impossible to afford to live there.

I've decided to do what I can to make living here in the US as tolerable as possible (you know all my activism, my friend, Laura). US imperialism is destroying the entire world.

I've lived in lots of places, and my attachment has always been to the nature of each place (the flora and the fauna) and the rhythm of the seasons.