Yonder

In many of the pictures taken of me as a child, I seem to be fading into the distance, either in driveways or on beaches. Faceless, I look as though I have turned to the camera to bid everyone farewell one last time, at the last possible moment.





My father once asked me if I knew where yonder was. I said I thought yonder was another word for there. He smiled and said, “No, yonder is between here and there.” This little story has stayed with me for years as an example of linguistic magic: It identified a new space--a middle region that was neither here nor there--a place that simply didn’t exist for me until it was given a name...The fact that here and there slide and slip depending on where I am is somehow poignant...--Siri Hustvedt