Lucien Darjeun Meadows
where we are, much more than we are
when we are. There is no when without a where. There is no we without a here.
NER staff reader Simone Kraus talks to Lucien Darjeun Meadows author of the essay “Circling Eloh: A Meditation“ about his love of running, the meaning of the Cherokee word “eloh,” his identity as a writer-translator, and the linguistic kaleidoscope in his life. Lucien’s essay appeared in
NER 41.4.
Simone Kraus: You are a long-distance trail runner. How does running inform your thinking, how does it affect your writing?
Lucien Darjeun
Meadows: Strangely, it wasn’t until after running the Never Summer 100K in 2019 that I began to write in poetry and prose about running. That said, the rhythms of running feel essential to my thinking and writing, with different sequences mirroring the sprint up a hill, or a long rolling stretch, the pause between breaths or strides that feels like an endless suspension, or the breathless careening
Best Austin restaurants dishing holiday meals to make the season bright
Best Austin restaurants dishing holiday meals to make season bright
Photo courtesy of Aba
Photo by Nicole Gell
Photo by Jessica Attie Not to sound like a grinch, but this holiday season is kind of a bummer. “The more the merrier” is a notion we can’t really embrace this year (along with our friends and family). Joyous holiday gatherings and lively cookie swaps and cocktail parties aren’t written in the stars this season. Despite the gloom, there is still cause for the holiday spirit, maybe even more so this year. So, deck the halls and pop the Champagne, because Austin restaurants are dishing out all kinds of festive feasts to beat the 2020 holiday blues.
Circling Eloh: A Meditation
First the war, thousands of miles to the east. No. First other, older wars with forgotten names, unhousing and unhoming the Apache Nation. The Arapaho Nation. The Cheyenne Nation. The Pueblo. The Shoshone. The Comanche. The Kiowa. The Navajo. There is a river run red, there is a lake, there is a world on fire who can never be regained. How can we reclaim when name and place are lost? When even ponderosa and lodgepole are uprooted for maple and elm?
There is water. There are a hundred years. There is not enough water. There are fifty years. There is the town of Stout, and then there is not. First the young couples leave for Fort Collins, over the hill, or for Wyoming, forty miles north. Then the families. Then the Bureau of Reclamation comes with letters and phone calls and men in uniforms and there is no choice left but to move. Some bring their homes, some fall into sheds provided five miles to the south.
Local restaurants where you can get holiday meals, special treats
By Donny Wong
Here s a list of some of the festive treats you can get.
Aba
Chef CJ Jacobson has created a menu for a feast perfect for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Specials on the menu include wild mushroom hummus, stracciatella with persimmon, grilled chicken kebab with lemon dill rice, braised short rib with gunpowder spiced potatoes, barberry glaze and tamarind jus, crispy Brussels sprouts, thyme roasted carrots and labneh, and Isot double chocolate cake. All items are served cold with reheating instructions.
Orders should be placed by
December 22 at 3 p.m. with pickups and deliveries on December 24 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Details here.