Word by Word
May 2006
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
10:30 am, Vancouver, BC
I've been travelling, and for some reason was unable to upload these pages to my web site. I'm afraid my techie abilities weren't quite up to the task; very frustrating. But I decided to add bits as I had time, and just post it when I got home. I didn't add in as much as I might have, given the frustration with technology, but ah well.
I got home late last night. I was away long enough (since April 20th) to feel somewhat disoriented. I have now officially lived in this apartment for a year, but it seems a year isn't quite enough for a place to become completely familiar. I had to think this morning where bowls were, last night my bedroom was unfamiliar. I was glad to have cats purring on my bed though. I've missed that. I think they were glad too.
Tomorrow I'll settle in with more of an overview, impressions and suchlike. Right now there's laundry, and a mountain of mail to deal with.
So here's the little bit I did add in while away, though had to save till now:
Friday, April 21, 2006
4:30 pm, Durham, NC
It's been such a while since I've made the time to write in here, that I feel quite sheepish. But I had deadlines, one being tax forms to fill out, no fun, and the other being travel, which is definitely fun. I find it interesting that I could spend two weeks getting my taxes done, but the chore has a lot of variables that don't actually have anything to do with the actual task of filling out the form. My original plan was to have the whole thing done by my birthday, but I am easily distracted from onerous things.
I had a very good birthday in spite of the tax thing looming over my shoulder, or more properly scattered around the living room in the way of file boxes I needed to sort, and papers that obviously needed discarding. But birthdays are important, and I had several friends I wanted to spend time with, and then there was the business of family dinner on Easter Sunday, what I like to call A Celebration of the Bunny.
The weekend before was given over to camaraderie as well, with a dinner at my house one night, and then at another friend's the next nigh. None of this is conducive to poring over obscure tax details on form this or circular that.
So I got them done this week, finally, mailed the forms at 8 pm on Wednesday, and then packed my suitcase. And yesterday morning I got up bright and early and spent a day flying via Chicago, to arrive here, to hang out with family.
I started out this entry, sitting on one of the porches at my uncle's house. looking out across bright green. There are very few evergreens here, but gazillions of trees, so everything has that bright green of springtime. It's a lot warmer here than Vancouver spring though, being more southerly and all. There were a couple whopper of bumble bees outside, so they drove me back into the house. Not quite sure what they were after, but they seemed to be eating the table.
Saturday, April 22, 2006
3:30 pm, Durham, NC
I can have an interesting time in Durham without ever leaving the house or property, though I'm happy to be out and about too. This morning I got up early to go along to Durham's farmers market, to pick up salad stuff and fresh eggs. We got caught in a thunderstorm; first rain here in a long time. People were calling it a drought, but every thing here is as green as can be.
Back at the house, I keep wandering off to explore. This house is big, and it is filled with art and science objects to boggle the mind. I love coming here. There are so many interesting things, I haven't even had time yet to look at the books on the shelves, and there are lots of those too. Whimsy is maybe a good word to describe the kind of things here. For instance right beside me is a wooden creature, looks a bit like woody woodpecker, but more exaggerated, and brightly coloured. It's actually a salad lifter, the body being a handle and the beak the fork end. But no one's actually going to use it for that. The painting in front of me is a close-up of a part of a butterfly's wing, though at first it seems to be an abstract painting. Sculptures. A giant ceramic snail sits off to my right, on a box painted as a tropical garden. The snail is maybe twice the size of one of my cats..
Outside, the swimming pool has been replaced by a fish pond, filled with large carp and tiny mosquito fish (they go after the larva). My uncle has a studio out back where he carves wood sculptures. It's a beautiful enough little building you might want to live in it. the greenhouse that was my aunt's domain is spooky, because a lot of the plants have died, though the cactus seem to be doing all right. There is a forest of five or six-foot ones in the back. I am aware of my aunt's presence by her absence (she died about six years ago). Sitting outside this morning with my coffee I remember her liking to have her morning read of the paper, with coffee and cigarette. A perfect spot, minus the cigarette perhaps, though Durham is full of tobacco buildings/production/factories.
Tonight the 'kids' go off to a hockey game, while I get to hang out with my cousins and feast on a meal my cousin the chef is going to cook up. But it's the company I like. The good food is the bonus.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
4 pm, Black Mountain, NC
My writing workshop is over, and now I'm in a little bed and breakfast, in Black Mountain, which is close to Asheville, NC, drinking wine and enjoying my own company. Truth be told, I'd rather be on my way home now, but the way this sort of thing works, I know I'll enjoy the weekend. I'm meeting my cousin here tomorrow, and we will spend the weekend at a music and arts festival. I noticed that Maria Muldaur is on the lineup. Someone I listened to when I was a young person in the 60s. It'll be interesting to see how she's changed.
I had a tremendous time at the workshop. It was an inspired and inspiring combination of people, place, and organization. I was working with a small group of people who are all at various stages of starting a novel. I brought my own pages along, with a sense that I was kidding myself. Not that I didn't have a good story, but just that I couldn't seem to sustain myself in the work. What happened is that the instructor, Abigail DeWitt, gave us all the tools to get it going again. And it's not like I didn't already know what she shared with us. It's just that you forget. Anyway, I've generated about six or so new pages along with a newfound sense that I can do this.
We met in classes in the mornings, faculty presentations in the afternoons, one field trip to Carl Sandburg's house, evening presentations, and homework to fit in to the gaps. Fortunately it was lousy weather, so the urge wasn't there to wander off into the woods hiking, or anything like that.
The sun came out today, and I drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway for a while on my way to here. Tomorrow I'm going to set off early-ish so I can drive more of it, before my cousin gets here. I'm not far from Smoky Mountain National Park, and have a strange urge to go there. Also, I may step my feet into Tennessee, as the park straddles the border.
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
4 pm
As per usual when I travel, I've managed to bring a cold home with me. I know when my body let the bug in; it was Saturday, when I spent an entire day at the Lake Eden Arts Festival in Black Mountain, NC. It was a good day, but it's an endurance test to spend around twelve or more hours at an event. I was on my feet a lot of the day, listening to music, looking through various craft tents, people watching. And I settled in to listen to a poetry slam, first round in the afternoon and my cousin and I stayed for the finals, which were somewhat interrupted by a thunderstorm. The poets had to go off mike for a while for fear of lightning strikes. The timing was good though, because the slam was inside a building, and the rain was over by the time we came out, close to midnight. It rained again on Sunday, but not until I was back in Durham, safe and dry in my uncle's house.
I might have managed to shake off this cold, had I not then gone and spent a day travelling, and applied jet lag as well. I know, this is one long whinge. But I feel lousy.
Only physically though. I am very glad I went off on this journey. Mixed purposes; one was to reconnect with family members, which happened. I hung around long enough to get past all the chuckles and stuff and got to some interesting conversations; I see family patterns more clearly than I did before I went. Which should help me in my writing, as I'm trying to write a story about family (not my own), among other things. And of course I spent several days at a writing workshop put on by Duke University's continuing ed. That was extremely useful; got me wriitng again, and reminded me how I got the first part of my story started. I feel confident that the words will continue to flow.,
But not today. If I manage to fold the laundry I did yesterday, I figure I'll have done enough for one day. Otherwise, it's the couch for me, and some soothing tea. I've got books and books to read, as a few more somehow crept into my suitcase for the trip home, and this morning I opened all my mail, which also leaves me with a stack of magazines and papers to go through. So that's about enough for one day.
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Flying from the Raleigh-Durham airport, the clouds caught my eye. |
Victoria Day, Monday, May 22, 2006
2 pm
I'm not feeling lousy anymore, which is good. I spent the best part of the last week sleeping, reading, or watching movies. It's a pretty easy life, I admit. It'd be better without the sore throat, but nothing's ever quite perfect.
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Me at Mount Pisgah, just before my 1.5 mile hike up to the top. I'm afraid my camera misfired on top, so you'll just have to believe me, that I was there. |
My daughter had e-mailed me while I was still in NC, that the Grouse Grind was open for the season. I did a short hike in the Appalachians, the same day she went for her first hike up the Grind. Then she went again this week, while I was lounging about here, blowing my nose incessantly. So yesterday, when she said she was going again, I had to go with her. I admit I was a bit pokey, but still managed a decent time for first of the season. She only had to wait a half hour on top for me, which time she employed waiting in line to get me a pass for the ride down, as I'd foolishly let my annual pass expire. Busy on the mountain on a long weekend; what were we thinking? The only problem my cold caused was that my ears were slow to pop as the altitude changed. I noticed this walking, let alone riding down. But the Grind did what it always does for me; it's like an extended meditation on how my body is feeling. I stop fretting about anything beyond my breathing, the feel of my heart, sweat on my body. And how heavy my feet can get to be.
Oddly, I didn't sleep well last night, but I think that was the cold medicine I took last night. When I finally slept, the morning disappeared.
So now, I think I should start clearing the rubble that has built up around me since I got home. I did put my suitcase away yesterday, but a lot of it's innards seem to be scattered around my bedroom. You'd think there was a real sloth living here.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
noon
It's definitely spring; I've been back up the trail twice with my daughter. She's obsessed too, so I guess it runs in the family. We hike alone, as she is faster, and is trying to improve her time. So am I, but it's fine with me if I never catch up to her. I like the combination of company there and back, but solitude on the trail. It's an enforced meditation time, and what I meditate on is my heart pumping, the way my sweat pours out, the feel of a cool breeze, the way my legs bend. It makes me aware of my body in a way that city life does not. Not how I'm looking, but how I'm feeling. And the interesting thing is that I know that the visual may not be appealing, given said sweat and all, but all the heart thumping makes me feel really fine.
I ran off to Seattle with a friend on Saturday. A spur of the moment decision to brave the lineup at the border in order to take in some free folk music at Seattle Center. And there was a line at the border. Both ways, sigh.
The weather was essentially lousy, which took some of the spark out of an outdoor festival, but didn't seem to lessen the crowds. (Too many people...) After rambling around the place for a while, we managed to find a spot to sit down, in a beer garden, within view of a stage. So we sipped some wine and enjoyed the away-from-home feeling. Best was one marching band from Oregon (that marched in place for a while); they entertained us most, with several people on stilts dancing with them. The energy level of brass instruments is huge after folkie guitars; just a blast of good cheer. Mostly the music was more miss than hit, but what was neat were the pick-up bands that set up here and there on the walkways. And lots of impromptu jam sessions too. But so many people. Makes you want to live in a small town.
Besides the festival, we had an excellent meal downtown, before catching a cab back to our hotel for a comfy night's sleep. The morning saw worse weather, so we went down to the Pike Street Market to find coffee, and wander about inside, out of the rain. More crowds. (Yes, I know it was a holiday weekend.) A little bit of a stroll downtown, with some listless shopping, and we got back in the car to drive home. An hour of the I-5 wore me out though, so at Burlington we took the exit for highway 11 that turns into the Chuckanut Drive and leads very spectacularly into Bellingham. So beautiful. And just as our car rolled into Fairhaven, the clouds parted and the sun shone. We'd found another street festival. So we took another break, wandered the streets a bit, into Village Books, where I did not buy any books, just coffee, and then on to home. Except for the hour and a half idling in line at the border, it's a pretty nice drive home.
But I shouldn't complain. It's not as though we weren't also adding to the congestion wherever we went. But I fear there are just too many of us in the world.
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