We're All Mad Here » 2009

03-20-09

I just finished reading 400 emails. It’s the first time in two weeks I had the “ah” feeling. Why? I’ve been on va… um, I’ve been traveling. It wasn’t much of a vacation but more of a test of endurance. Between perpetual stomach flus and lack of sleep plus the minor annoyances thrown in here and there (like losing my travel case, breaking my tooth, the bile yellow walls I returned home to find when david mistakened my “just get the color we have now in semi-gloss” for “paint it BRIGHT FUCKING YELLOW!!!!”). The high points:

1. Cassadaga with Bryan and Pam near Deland, FL

2. One slightly chilly Ren Faire (boys in ren garb doing manual labor, nom.) in Deerfield Beach, FL

3. Monkey Joes inflatable indoor playground with Mya and Iz in Raliegh, NC.

4. Watching the ducks fly across the quiet grey lake at the cabin outside of York, PA

5. Eating Collard Greens with Nina near Harrisburg, PA.

6. Going antiquing at the walk of shops in Lewisburg, PA

7. That life saving Long Island Ice Tea in Station Square during the St Patties Day Parade in Pittsburgh, PA

8. Traditional steak salads with my aunt, uncle and cousin in New Brighton, PA.

9. The Corona and Steak on the train with the Australian couple near Balitmore and trying to explain what grits were.

10. Waking in and out of sleep watching the world go by from the sleeper room on the train between Maryland and South Carolina.

11. Watching the sun come up in Savannah, Ga.

12. Swimming in the pool overlooking the lake in Winter Haven, FL with Leslyn and Darcy.

13. Playing on the beach with Darcy, Iz and Sol in Vero.

14. Coming home to my article in the current Herbal Companion Magazine.

15. Breakfast with D.

16. Six new strong pieces and a sunburn.

17. Adding a dozen new marks to the map:

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03-03-09

Special Delivery

The mail man knocked on my door this morning. I signed for an international package from Thailand. He seemed sort of surprised, perhaps her envisioned Michelle as an older woman, grey hair, dignified, showing some reason of VIP airmail across her features. I signed for the six inch square kraft mailer and went inside. An elephant and her babies in black line art graced the corner of the Thailand Post stamp.

Pealing back the flap, a small newspaper packet wrapped in white tape and unknown symbols fell out into my hand. More peculiarly, the scent of Ralph Loren Romance for Men filled the room. My seeds were sprayed as though they were a love note, shipped across the miles. The newsprint told a story in images of masked protesters screaming at armed guards.