rainy day

Ah, what could be better than sleeping in with the pattering of rain tapping away at the roof and windows? Well, I couldn't exactly sleep in today, but I can revel in the odd rainy day. It has been so sunny and warm and summery lately, that this cool gray rain is almost a relief! I am forced to stay inside and think.

Of all the Impressionists, I've always had a thing for Gustave Caillebotte. Of course, his "Rainy Day in Paris" is world-renown, as well as "The Floorscrapers" from 1876. But with rain-induced time on my hands, I decided to do some searching for my favorite Caillebotte.

Along the way, I found this other, lesser-known "Floorscrapers", actually painted a year after the one above. I love it when artists take on subject matter in different ways over long spans of time. It really shows off different perspectives, discoveries that the artists themselves make along the way.

But, this is my favorite: "Young Man at His Window", painted in 1875. I love that the room and the view remind me of the view from my room when I first visited Paris. I love the stony-cool colors and the dramatic figure in his black suit. It is full of mystery and longing. If you look closely, following the "gaze" of the young man, you can see a female figure standing on the street corner. This intimates a story without fully spelling it out for us, and raises more questions than it answers. I like that.

coffee enlightenment?

Sitting down to breakfast in a strange house. Well, nothing alarming...I am housesitting. I'm keeping company with two sweet, neurotic dogs and enjoying the exotic delights of cable television and granite countertops.

There is lots of great light in this house, which gets me thinking in several directions. Of course, I think about our new place and how to best harness the light from the east/west facing windows. Alas, no southern ones. This post from Apartment Therapy Europe gave some good pointers, though.

I also got to thinking about light, in terms of consciousness. As a thoroughly non-morning person, I often wake up feeling swallowed in a mental shadow. A large cup of coffee and an hour of slow awakening are my usual requirements for feeling sane and alert. What is it about light that is both comforting and harsh? Why do we use light-metaphors when referring to our mind, our awareness, our quality of engagement with the universe (she was enlightened)? I briefly thought about springing these questions on my students today...but it might be too deep. Or, it might not be.

halfway there...

About half of the really important/just plain busy things I have to do are done. Yay! Now, the deep breath before the plunge...

Projects
I am moving this week! I have piles and piles of dust-gathering boxes clustered all around the house. They are bound for our new digs...I just can't wait until they're all safely over there.

Thinking
About things people do in their sleep. I was listening to the Signal the other night, and Lori Brown was talking about a man, Lee Hadwin, who--get this--paints and draws in his sleep! Here are some of his pieces:






How cool is that? What do you wish you could do in your sleep?

Reading
Right now I'm working my way through this book:

Bill Bryson is terribly funny in unexpected, almost shy ways. He sneaks up on you and all the sudden, you're laughing out loud! It's great. The only problem is, it makes me want to be traveling right now...grrr. So frustrating! Well, everything in it's time.

crawling on my hands and knees

I feel like I'm about to walk into a dangerous jungle. The next, oh, ten days or so are ridiculously packed with important, attention-worthy travels, experiences, and friends. I am just a tiny bit intimidated.

When we were in Seattle last month, we took a long hike into the mountains one day. It was gorgeous, and challenging. The trail took us through deep green woods and moss-carpeted boulders, over log-bridges, through massive grey piles of sharp-edged rocks, and into glacial territory. We hiked to a glacier lake that was a thick emerald color, fed by the active glacier just across the water from where we stood. It was truly a spectacular view.

But, the hike was intimidating. It took us all day. I mean, we started out briskly enough, sort of cocky, actually.
"What? This isn't that hard!"
Later, when we were crawling up switch-backs and sucking in the dramatically thin air, it was a different story. My feet hurt, I was sucking in air like an 80 year old chain smoker who's just jogged around the block. Somehow, though, (ok, with lots of encouragement!) I made it to the top.

So, while this may not totally (if I'm being honest) inspire a "bring it on, world!" defiance, it at least tells me this: if I don't give up, I will eventually gain the peak. Crawling on my hands and knees, but making it.

time and goals and headaches

Last night I watched one of my favorite movies, Before Sunrise, for the like, millionth time. Towards the end of the movie, Ethan Hawke recites lines from a W.H. Auden poem:

But all the clocks in the city
Began to whirr and chime:
'O let not Time deceive you,
You cannot conquer Time.

'In headaches and in worry
Vaguely life leaks away,
And Time will have his fancy
To-morrow or to-day.


I have some time on my hands this evening, and I'm trying to put it to good use. I trapsed up to the bookstore, and now am sitting at a coffee shop, thinking, and attempting to write a bit. I went to plug in my computer at said coffee shop, and slammed my head really hard into a big metal sign that was hanging from the ceiling. Man, I am still seeing bright colors flash!

Maybe it's the bump on my head, or maybe it's the poetry, but I'm contemplating lots of goals...little ones: commenting on some book pages for a friend. Big ones: thinking about going to Europe with the hubs. Meanwhile, the long evening stretches, empty and full at once, and I will try to chip away at these goals.

improvising and keeping cool...

When triple H conditions strike, what's a girl to do but strike back with frozen snacks?

Behold, the chocolate-dipped frozen banana bites I created with help from my trusty Bon Appetit. I didn't have any candy bars on hand, which is what the recipe called for to create the coating, so I improvised. I used a mix of espresso powder and cocoa for one variety, coarsely chopped sesame seeds for another, chopped dried cranberries, and chopped crystalized ginger~which ended up being my favorite!

The frozen banana centers are delightfully cool and creamy, almost like ice-cream.

Frozen grapes are another, super easy, fun frozen thing to eat. Just give 'em a rinse, and toss 'em in the freezer on a sheet pan covered with wax paper. Delish! I hold 'em on my wrists for a second before popping them in my mouth!

home sweet home, and lots to do!

I am glad to be back in the mitten.

Last week we had a marvelous time in Washington state; we hiked and swam, drank wine and ate really fresh food, wandered around the city. Of course, there was really, really good coffee.

For all the great experiences, I am shamelessly glad to be home again. It was a much longed-for vacation, with a much-longed for homecoming. You know when you just get tired--not in your body, but in your mind? My mind was tired, and ready to come home and rest.

For now, I am excited about the freshness of summer! There is lots to be done, adventurous transitions to be made, glorious books to be read. Here is the sum-up:

Projects:
The tomatoes are doing well--growing quite tall, to my delight.

Thinking:
About ways to incorporate 'ZINEs into my summer class. Anybody have good examples?

Reading:
Possession by A.S. Byatt. Just finished it, actually, with a satisfied and deep sigh. It was thick and twisted with language, but with a racing quality that pulled me through to the very last page, which was heart-rending and poetic. Highly recommend.