Leonor Henríquez

leer en español      I uncovered the jar of marmalade ready to enjoy it with my breakfast toasts.Then a fleeting thought flew through my head.That mysterious dialogue between Alice and the Queen, in Lewis Carroll's classic, Alice in Wonderland.- It's a very good marmalade, said the Queen.- Well anyway I don't feel like it - Alice said.- Today you wouldn't have it, even if you wanted to - said the Queen - The rule is: marmalade yesterday, marmalade tomorrow... but not today.”Confused, I looked at my shiny jar again and an existential doubt possessed me, as if I had stumbled into the same rabbit hole where Alice fell.- Could it be that "today" I don't feel like having marmalade for breakfast?I closed the jar and decided to have my coffee with a piece of carrot cake while I undusted the compl...

leer en español      A dear friend gave me an unexpected and unusual gift. Double pleasure.A fish. Actually, part of it; the beast, a halibut, was nearly five feet.A good part of these sovereign fillets became an anthological ceviche. Others wait in my fridge to be pan-seared with butter, garlic, and herbs.I really appreciated the gesture of my fisherman friend. His gift was very inspiring because it moved me, not only to cook but also to write these lines.Thinking about fishing made a childhood memory surface in me. The only time in my life that I have caught something other than a cold, a sardine, at the Playa azul pier. I was about eight years old and when I remembered that moment, I felt the same agitation as then.Suddenly, perhaps to please my inner child, I decided to resume fishing....

leer en español    I accepted the mission with great pleasure, without knowing exactly what it was about.It was a tiny way to give back for everything this good friend does for me.Nowadays people have very strange pets, lizards, spiders and even snakes, but I have a lot of experience taking care of children, dogs and similars, so I thought this would not be a problem.I made a mistake.My friend wrote down the detailed instructions for me. Food and drink hours that, depending on the weather, could vary.When I met them, I was amazed by the delicacy and almost fragility of their beauty.But above all, though mute and still, they were alive.And so I would have to return them.Every morning, I opened the gate of their garden and nervously, I looked at every possible corner where they lived, talkin...

leer en españolThe inspiration for this task came to me last Sunday.We enjoyed a spectacular paella as a family, credits to my wonderful mother-in-law.A splendid afternoon, not a cloud in the sky. The sun felt on the skin like a flamethrower; an Albariño, pleasant conversation, in short, an ideal Sunday afternoon.Suddenly a cold breeze, thunderclouds, and hail.Yes hail! About the size of golf balls.Luckily, we had already eaten.There is a saying here in Calgary that if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes because it will change.The incident reminded me of this Argentinian film, Granizo (Hail) (2022), which I saw a few months ago on Netflix.A comedy that I confess I have seen three times, with some of my brothers and the truth is, the more I see it, the more I laugh.It is about a f...

leer en español Year 1999 was just starting. The chaos of my life was beginning to sort itself out. I had already overcome a health problem, a divorce, which is never pleasant, even if it was friendly, several moves, job changes, etc. This introduction is meant to explain my assignment for this week, which is to relate an event that changed my life. The engineering firm for which I was working, had won a megaproject, in partnership with a Canadian company. I said to myself: "Well Leonor, focus on your work and nothing else". In the Project, there were people of many nationalities, Venezuelans, Norwegians, Indians, French, British. This one in particular, was a tall man, resembling Sean Connery, with an inscrutable accent and expression. I confess that his presence ...

leer en español     In German it is ausgang.I learned this word one day when I got lost in a train station in Frankfurt. I only know apfelstrudel in German.In English it is much easier, exit: salida in Spanish.Today I want to refer to a strange coincidence between the English word exit (from Latin exitus) and another term that, in Spanish and in every language, hangs over us all our lives as a tacit mandate, self-imposed or not.It is an elusive word, sometimes overvalued, confusing, like that verse from the Bitter Truths, "what shines has a place, even it is copper that shines for gold..."A way of living that each one interprets as they feel like it, and which exhibits as many nuances as there are people in the world.Perhaps you already guessed, I mean the word "SUCCESS" (excuse the capita...

leer en españolI sat down to rest on a bench facing the river.Around me, families of geese, a peregrine falcon hovering, a beaver chewing on a log, in short, the small miracles of the day.Suddenly, I was surprised by a boat that I had not seen for years: a little paper boat.I looked around to see if the owner was there, maybe a kid, a grandparent, or a hopeless romantic like me, but I didn't see anyone.I continued my walk along the river, following the fragile but resolute little boat with my eyes. An old childhood melody returned to my memory: once upon a time there was a tiny boat….Suddenly this one ran aground on the shore. I wanted to go rescue him, but the current came to his aid.The river became turbulent, and the boat had to navigate through rocks. I thought that would be the end an...

leer en españolEvery once in a while, I feel the urge to take an excursion that's a little more adventurous than my daily peaceful stroll along the river.A bolder, more challenging tour, with the sole motivation of awakening my spirit, sometimes sleepy.I went alone.At the beginning, the road was wide and radiant, the landscape, splendid.After a while, the path became narrower.At each step, the terrain became more rugged; I was avoiding stones, ice, small precipices. At times I got lost, then got back on track.I finally arrived at a majestic waterfall.I sat down on a big rock to rest and contemplate the path I traveled.I didn't know how much time had passed when I woke up from my lethargy.I retraced my steps reinvigorated, more awake than ever.Yes, I think that from time to time it is neces...

For Alba and Santiagoleer en españolThey say that the Universe is silent.Of course, there is no atmosphere and therefore no sound can be transmitted.So far, I understand.Yet it seems that the greatest minds, the best scientists in the world, have collected astronomical data from the most powerful telescopes and space stations and translated it into sounds audible to the human ear.I imagine that this conversion of frequencies, oscillations, gravitational waves and who knows what else, to find these sounds of the cosmos, had to be very complicated.Investigating a bit, in order to write this chronicle, I found a video where it is possible to hear these, rather grunts, made by galaxies, comets and black holes.Truly remarkable.But recently, in my simple and domestic life, without the help of NA...