by Deborah Quinn | Feb 1, 2014 | Abu Dhabi, aging, urban nature
About a week after I turned fifty (see how easily I said that?), I went for a walk on Saadiyat Beach, which is near my house, with a friend. Here’s a question: almost all the women I know like to go for a walk. We don’t need a specific destination; we...
by Deborah Quinn | Nov 16, 2013 | Abu Dhabi, Books, environment, NaBloPoMo, UAE, Uncategorized, urban nature
I have a garden, which I’ve wanted for years. In New York I had to be satisfied with window boxes and urban tomatoes (they look pretty but oh, those airborne carcinogens, especially if the tomatoes in question grew fourteen stories above a 14th street bus...
by Deborah Quinn | Feb 18, 2013 | Abu Dhabi, expat, Kids, UAE, urban nature
Ici la piste ou ma petit garcon fait du ski: Which is to say, my twelve-year old son is currently skiing in the French Alps–and I have to say, that’s a sentence I never in my life thought I would write. Let me hasten to add that his French is no better...
by Deborah Quinn | Nov 27, 2012 | environment, expat, NaBloPoMo, Politics, UAE, Uncategorized, urban nature
Abu Dhabi, the city, is a bit like Manhattan, in that technically it’s an island, but it’s easy to forget that fact when you’re wandering in the maze of skyscrapers and multi-lane roads. Where Manhattan has New York Harbor, Abu Dhabi has the Arabian...
by Deborah Quinn | Nov 21, 2012 | Abu Dhabi, NaBloPoMo, urban nature
When we moved to Abu Dhabi, we moved into a furnished apartment. The furniture is mostly fine (once we got rid of the white leather sectional sofa, the ridiculously small bed, and some truly hideous cabinets) but sometimes, nevertheless, I feel a little bit like I...
by Deborah Quinn | Nov 17, 2012 | Abu Dhabi, environment, surat al-sabt saturday snapshot, urban nature
In the heart of this oddly urban city, in front of the Shia’a mosque on Airport Road, there is… Corn. Also a sunflower. And I think a few tomato plants, maybe a watermelon vine. It’s like a tiny triangle of Kansas on the edge of a parking...
