So for the past few weeks, i've been house sitting my parents' house in lovely southeast, with one fantastic whale bus parked out front. There are definite advantages to being in a house. (Like, duh! is what you are all thinking right now ;) Anyhow, more on that later...
This morning, i walked to the store and got some edibles and one awesome butterfly balloon in anticipation for the arrival of one fantastic traveller that is arriving tonight. The balloon is the kind that's waaaaaay too big and kinda see-through and the light glints off of it so well. About half way home (i am on foot with a backpack full of food and one inflated monarch in hand), my ears suddenly miss the sound of mylar bouncing against my side.
The butterfly was hovering, newly freed, a foot or so above my right shoulder, and i let it. I watched it then slowly make its way upward and south bound, in no hurry at all and bouncing and twirling around in the air, the sun catching it occasionally. I followed it south for a few blocks, keeping my eye on this IFO as it wandered higher, making a deal with myself that I would only follow it till Powell (busy busy street of many lanes) and then go home. but i didn't. I followed it across Powell and further south, until it lost its shape to my eyes, eventually becoming a small speck in the sky, and then, after i gazed down for just a moment to greet a woman and her pup, it was gone, flying too high and far away for my eyes to perceive.
It was the best impromptu adventure i've had lately, and it seems so symbolically appropriate.
From the moment the butterfly began to float away, it was instantly in my head what a silly goal it was to try and tie down (with a tiny lil' ribbon) any gorgeous thing that was so clearly meant to fly. And on my extended walk with head tilted toward the sky, realizing that having beautiful things in your life is wonderful...
but those ones that are meant to fly
... you can only follow them as long as you can keep them in sight.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
mmmm soggy
i have rarely (if ever) heard rain so hard and consistent in its pelting windblown nature as i did alllll last night and this morning. the sound was so loud that it woke me multiple times and sent me checking for leaks...and luckily each search was unfruitful. holy moly what a rain!
the irony...is that this is what i wrote in my journal yesterday afternoon after a day of walking around and running errands in the wet droplets...
'Drops make ripples which cascade into each other only to yield to a new drop. Tis the rain's disco dance upon the puddle that adorns the crack where the sidewalk meets the street. The street that humans made to protect us from the earth. Why are people so afraid of the world? Why do we hide inside of structures when it rains instead of under the heavy boughs of trees? Perhaps it is because we've cut down most of the trees that would be big enough to afford us this priviledge, this protection; like a mother covering her child's ears when speaking a truth he is not ready for just yet. And why do we drown out the sound of healthy rain with man-made sounds, as if our cacophony could somehow be more joyous and full of life than the rain upon the earth, in puddles, atop our roofs and jacket hoods and umbrellas if the wind allows it. Why do we not dance to the sound of the rain, with its changing rhythms and tones? Perhaps some of us do. Those who seek the earth, crave the feel of dirt underfoot and beneath toes, the warmth of sunlight unfiltered by cityscapes and low-lying haze...the silence of the woods, the echo of bird's song with no world-hum... (insert telephone call from Mark and a random comment concerning the rain's other components)
...And no, Mark, I don't think it's acid rain ;) '
go figure, that only hours later, it was I....I who was checking to make sure my little motorbus was keeping the rain OUT...go figure
but i'll tell ya, the reason we hide from the rain, is cuz it's really flippin' wet!
...and i'm still working on my dorsal fins ;)
the irony...is that this is what i wrote in my journal yesterday afternoon after a day of walking around and running errands in the wet droplets...
'Drops make ripples which cascade into each other only to yield to a new drop. Tis the rain's disco dance upon the puddle that adorns the crack where the sidewalk meets the street. The street that humans made to protect us from the earth. Why are people so afraid of the world? Why do we hide inside of structures when it rains instead of under the heavy boughs of trees? Perhaps it is because we've cut down most of the trees that would be big enough to afford us this priviledge, this protection; like a mother covering her child's ears when speaking a truth he is not ready for just yet. And why do we drown out the sound of healthy rain with man-made sounds, as if our cacophony could somehow be more joyous and full of life than the rain upon the earth, in puddles, atop our roofs and jacket hoods and umbrellas if the wind allows it. Why do we not dance to the sound of the rain, with its changing rhythms and tones? Perhaps some of us do. Those who seek the earth, crave the feel of dirt underfoot and beneath toes, the warmth of sunlight unfiltered by cityscapes and low-lying haze...the silence of the woods, the echo of bird's song with no world-hum... (insert telephone call from Mark and a random comment concerning the rain's other components)
...And no, Mark, I don't think it's acid rain ;) '
go figure, that only hours later, it was I....I who was checking to make sure my little motorbus was keeping the rain OUT...go figure
but i'll tell ya, the reason we hide from the rain, is cuz it's really flippin' wet!
...and i'm still working on my dorsal fins ;)
Monday, March 22, 2010
Spring, I think it's spring!
The battery is shot and the bus won't start.
...but i was gifted jumper cables by Scoot via Snapper so it's all good.
My garage is gone with the wind as are my super subletters
...but my smurfcycle cruiser is nicely locked to the back of the bus in a careening-out-of-control manner bound to look hilarious lest i forget it's there once i jump the bus and drive away.
And it's been below freezing only one morning i can remember over the past week
...and above freezing all the other days, warm enough that i've packed up my sleeping bag and am getting away with only 3 blankets!
And it's still dark when i get home
...but dusk is still in the sky and my mancala board turned tea light holder makes for the most fantastically effective lighting by which to read, write, and play banagrams while drinking after-sushi beers with kristi ;)
And in 2 weeks i'll be living hi class and house sitting at my folks as they travel to italy! twill be a vacation for both of us, though i gotta say,
te amo mi ballena
i love my whale ;)
to spring, warmer weather, and long sunlight creepin in through the windshield~
...but i was gifted jumper cables by Scoot via Snapper so it's all good.
My garage is gone with the wind as are my super subletters
...but my smurfcycle cruiser is nicely locked to the back of the bus in a careening-out-of-control manner bound to look hilarious lest i forget it's there once i jump the bus and drive away.
And it's been below freezing only one morning i can remember over the past week
...and above freezing all the other days, warm enough that i've packed up my sleeping bag and am getting away with only 3 blankets!
And it's still dark when i get home
...but dusk is still in the sky and my mancala board turned tea light holder makes for the most fantastically effective lighting by which to read, write, and play banagrams while drinking after-sushi beers with kristi ;)
And in 2 weeks i'll be living hi class and house sitting at my folks as they travel to italy! twill be a vacation for both of us, though i gotta say,
te amo mi ballena
i love my whale ;)
to spring, warmer weather, and long sunlight creepin in through the windshield~
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Numero dos
Second neon green "we're gonna tow your big blubbery whale bus sticker STAT" sticker duelly noted. Thank you kristi for the clever spotting of the aforementioned overly stick-i-fied notation. And back to the parking lot, sweet sweet blissfully paved non-city-towable parking lot.
wonder if this is a three strikes you're out....or ...third time's a charm kinda situation...
something to ponder ;)
wonder if this is a three strikes you're out....or ...third time's a charm kinda situation...
something to ponder ;)
Friday, February 26, 2010
Two WTF moments in Two Days
just for the record,
if you see a motorbus parked somewhere at night, there might be a person sleeping inside of it
and if you happen to jump up on the back rack and try to get a peak through the drawn curtains at the inside of the bus, you might freak out a sleeping kitty and her human companion
...who might mistake the sudden awakening and momentary loss in stability of sleeping surface for something more dramatic than late night peeping toms (i have cinco dinero for anyone who can tell me where that phrase began)
and if you people (who are from louisiana so your license plate says) who must get a look inside late at night ever play the earthquake game again while i am sleeping, i may be forced to pry myself out of my warm sleeping bag and speak harsh words in your general direction and sick my attack cat upon you by the light of ever glowing (if sometimes slightly obscured) moon!
just sayin'....
and just for the record,
when you wake up in a bus during a heavy rain and the sound of one rain drop falling seems louder and more rhythmic than the others, that's because it is.
that's because once that raindrop finds a way INSIDE your bus, the sound waves it creates are completely unmuffled by a rooftop surface and even perhaps amplified by the fact that it is falling within a very small enclosed space!
and sleep and dreams are made more interesting by the fact that this creative raindrop has managed to sneak its way into your domain through an electrical outlet in the ceiling
... it's like i'm living in a hairdryer in the bathtub scenario getting ready to play out its final scene in a so bad it's good alfred hitchcock creation
previously i stated that my bus is a sitcom, but perhaps it will become something more akin to a made for TV movie
perhaps then i'll have to get a TV so i can see about my life...and watch the Amazing Race show so that Tony and i can win it one day ;)
if you see a motorbus parked somewhere at night, there might be a person sleeping inside of it
and if you happen to jump up on the back rack and try to get a peak through the drawn curtains at the inside of the bus, you might freak out a sleeping kitty and her human companion
...who might mistake the sudden awakening and momentary loss in stability of sleeping surface for something more dramatic than late night peeping toms (i have cinco dinero for anyone who can tell me where that phrase began)
and if you people (who are from louisiana so your license plate says) who must get a look inside late at night ever play the earthquake game again while i am sleeping, i may be forced to pry myself out of my warm sleeping bag and speak harsh words in your general direction and sick my attack cat upon you by the light of ever glowing (if sometimes slightly obscured) moon!
just sayin'....
and just for the record,
when you wake up in a bus during a heavy rain and the sound of one rain drop falling seems louder and more rhythmic than the others, that's because it is.
that's because once that raindrop finds a way INSIDE your bus, the sound waves it creates are completely unmuffled by a rooftop surface and even perhaps amplified by the fact that it is falling within a very small enclosed space!
and sleep and dreams are made more interesting by the fact that this creative raindrop has managed to sneak its way into your domain through an electrical outlet in the ceiling
... it's like i'm living in a hairdryer in the bathtub scenario getting ready to play out its final scene in a so bad it's good alfred hitchcock creation
previously i stated that my bus is a sitcom, but perhaps it will become something more akin to a made for TV movie
perhaps then i'll have to get a TV so i can see about my life...and watch the Amazing Race show so that Tony and i can win it one day ;)
Inside acoustics
Pitter patter pitter patter.
Drip drop drip drop.
I cannot imagine or fabricate a sound any better to come home to, to cuddle up with.
Turn the radio off;
the rain plays on.
Drip drop drip drop.
I cannot imagine or fabricate a sound any better to come home to, to cuddle up with.
Turn the radio off;
the rain plays on.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
From some night a few weeks ago
Ode to a haiku
Cuddled up cozy
Kitty wants outside to play
I say no to this
For now, it is late
Sleep and dreams are for having
Like wine on Friday
Only it's Thursday
Pounding echoes soft rain drops
The roof holds solid
Nick drake drones softly
To a background of street hum
And dim bus lighting
February chill
Ain't so cold compared to march
When we save daylight
Nothing beats sweaters
Made of wool and magic love
Except for ice cream
Scooped on beach boardwalks
Each drip saved from the pavement
Toes drawn towards sand
And water, at first
It's cold, like our cone fillings
With its own flavor
Here it showers roofs
And feet unclad from the wet
Less intentional
First flowers are up
Mistaken by brief sun breaks
But still I like them
Like the idea
Of bus living in summer
Can't come soon enough
For windows open
Chillin by moby dick's tale
And beers on the porch
Cuddled up cozy
Kitty wants outside to play
I say no to this
For now, it is late
Sleep and dreams are for having
Like wine on Friday
Only it's Thursday
Pounding echoes soft rain drops
The roof holds solid
Nick drake drones softly
To a background of street hum
And dim bus lighting
February chill
Ain't so cold compared to march
When we save daylight
Nothing beats sweaters
Made of wool and magic love
Except for ice cream
Scooped on beach boardwalks
Each drip saved from the pavement
Toes drawn towards sand
And water, at first
It's cold, like our cone fillings
With its own flavor
Here it showers roofs
And feet unclad from the wet
Less intentional
First flowers are up
Mistaken by brief sun breaks
But still I like them
Like the idea
Of bus living in summer
Can't come soon enough
For windows open
Chillin by moby dick's tale
And beers on the porch
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