she's just saying...

Howdy from Appalachia

Out in front of the Hendersonville Lowes:

Overheard at the doctor's

Snippets of conversation from a doctor's office in western North Carolina:

Did you have the second back surgery?
It's my C7 through C9.
My son in law had that - says it don't do nothin'.
Yeah, they're puttin' the pain implant in me.
Makes you want to go jump off a cliff sometimes.
It worked for the burning pain down the leg, but not the other kind.
My wife was a nurse - a patient fell on her and broke her back. Hell of a way to end a career.
Medicaid won't cover me for that one, so I get the electric shocks.
I got 4 knee surgeries, the back surgery, carpal tunnel, my hernia last year...
I got that pain thing. It worked for awhile. Now it just makes me sick to my stomach.
Feels better standin' up. I tried sleepin' standin' against the wall.
I got some dead person's bone. They couldn't use my bone.
What'd they say at work? They gonna pay you?

Go outside, run around, do a cartwheel if you can, touch your toes, kick your feet up, be thankful you're not in a pain clinic in North Carolina.

Visiting the 'rents

Nothing like the grinding drag of boredom to exhaust you to the point of torpor. So how's your day going?

Whoops. Back to my happy place. I'm realizing that I like being home. I like my house, my clothes, my kitchen, my music, my TIVO, my bed, my neighbors, my refrigerator, my bathroom, my washing machine, my pets, my son, my car... I'm looking forward to being home again.

So, I'm getting a LOT of Christmas knitting done while visiting my parents. How about you guys? I'm now on my sixth pair of mitts, including the two pair I did that I screwed up on and use myself. I'm loving Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, my new favorite yarn. It's the perfect yarn, period.

My dad is doing well, considering. They have him walking already (with a walker and two assistants), even putting some weight on his new hip. The xray is crazy - a lot of Home Depot nuts and screws in there. I'd be curious to see this surgeon's home repair jobs.

North Carolina is stultifying (a great crossword entry). I have nothing more to say on that. Somewhere in the world things are happening. Just not here.

hotel phone

Ringtone: Bliiing! bliiing!
Headed to North Carolina...

Back in the saddle, and dreams

First (official) day on the job! Mostly I've been cleaning out my inherited office and trying to find the bathroom. So far I'm loving it. I have yet to get outside and see the critters, but I'm making it a priority for this week. More to come on the cool stuff.

Do you have recurrent dreams?

I tend to have two dream themes that recur: one involves planes and trains. I get on the wrong ones, miss them, go the wrong way, get lost in train stations, etc. (It used to involve packing problems as well, but I guess I've gotten over my "baggage" issues.) These aren't necessarily bad dreams, they're just tedious. (The details of traveling these days are bad enough - who needs to dream about them?) I never make it to my destination or even remember what it is when I awake.

 

The other one centers on missing class at some prestigious private school and panicking because we're getting tested (a classic). It's always calculus or physics or something I haven't done any work for and can't fake. I'm late for class or I haven't gone all semester or I haven't done the reading and so forth.

Very anxiety-producing, a feeling that stays with me through the next day. Not surprisingly, I had one of those last night.

Someday maybe I'll dream that I arrive at my destination or that I'm prepared and pass the test. Til then, I'll keep getting on the wrong train and walking into the classroom unprepared.

Fellow Travelers

My older sister and I are close, relative to the rest of our family. That means we make an effort to see each other once a year in addition to the July 4 family get-together. We've traveled together quite a few times without killing each other, so I consider that a success. But we do have very different travel styles that I've learned over the years.

I'm kind of a hang-out, mosey-around, soak up the atmosphere, take a nap, have a drink kind of traveler. She's all about getting out and about, seeing key attractions (most often architectural landmarks), taking photos, packing it all in. I like a big leisurely breakfast, then snacking on stuff during the day and often appetizers and drinks at cool spots at night. She basically doesn't eat all day, then likes a late big dinner at a nice place. I like to stay in fancy hotels, she'd rather save the money and use it for dining. No right or wrong here, just very different.

Traveling with another person can be tough -- there is always a point when you get on each other's nerves. Or maybe it's just me. But Susan and I do pretty well given our differences in style. We both like to shop in unusual stores, something my last boyfriend really chafed at. We always have a good, easy conversation. And she gets me to see/do things I'd otherwise miss, I know.

For example, she's been very focused on finding this Japanese 100 yen store. Packed with bizarre, clever little things, many of which we couldn't identify. Everything was $1.50, with a few exceptions. There are a lot of things I'll buy if they only cost $1.50. Even things I don't quite recognize.

We hit a vintage pottery store, something NO boyfriend would have been able to tolerate. Then a mystery bookstore - we were on a roll. I did my part in contributing to the retail economy in Seattle, as these are certainly things we don't have in Bend. I miss the quirkiness of city life and casually finding amazing discoveries around every corner. Oh well, my mantra: you can't have everything.

Off to the game...

Ultra red

OK, I said it wouldn't become a travelogue, but the Seattle Public Library is pretty cool. I'll let the shots speak for themselves.

The library's red corridor level (one of the Nine Circles Of Hell according to Dante)

Here are the escalators:

That's Joyce above me, our new library friend. We had all kinds of fun taking each other's photos throughout the place, running down the up escalator, passing off cameras, all that crazy tourist wackiness. Really, it was fun. She was visiting from SF - we liked her. Hi, Joyce! if she's reading this.

Obligatory artsy architecture shot:

We hit the Pike Place market and bought weird stuff, spent way too much time and money in So Much Yarn in Belltown (really fun staff and knitted samples for sale for $20!), spent the longest hour in my life behind the wheel in Friday afternoon rush hour in the middle of downtown (fun!) the reason for which I can't divulge or my sister will kill me, and picnicked in the ballroom hotel room with wine, mozzarella, tomatoes and basil.  Now we're listening to the Mariners/Yankees - 3-nothing Seattle, no hitter, YES! Susan's irritated. I love it.

Lap of luxury in Seattle

Somehow we ended up in a luxury hotel right on 1st Avenue, in a room larger than my house in LA (700 sq. ft.). I had to confirm the price because we envisioned a final bill in the thousands. Yup, well under $200/night. Go Orbitz! Anyway, I'm content to simply go from the room to the baseball game to the sushi restaurant down the block all weekend, but my sister-the-architect has other ideas.

I'm not a fan of blogs that catalog people's trips with travel writing and photos, so you'll be spared. A few key highlights to come (A Rod's butt!).

Firefly

Bug courtesy of my big bro Steve. Photo mine.

One thing I like about the East: fireflies.

We always called them lightning bugs. Nothing brings back the summers of my childhood like a lawn at late dusk, sprinkled with lightning bugs twinkling in their lovesick short buggy lives.

There don't seem to be fireflies in the West. I think it's a humidity thing. Maybe the only good thing about this East Coast humidity, other than my cuticles looking more presentable.

What are your childhood summer memories?

I'm done

I really want to be home, in dry, not buggy Central Oregon. I've been congested, sneezy, itchy and headachy since I hit the east coast, and it hasn't let up.

Day 13

I just realized that in the many years I've lived in Bend, I've never left for longer than a week. I've traveled: East Coast, California, Texas, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Spain - but each jaunt has been for 8 days or less.

I remember when I got my first real corporate-type job in NYC after grad school, when it sunk in that I'd only get one week off for the first several years. I was stunned: one week?! Cram the entire year's vacation into one week? This was after a life of summer vacations and under-employment. I felt like I'd been given a jail sentence.

Since then, I've learned to fit the vacation experience into one-week trips, extended weekend getaways, work trips that included relaxation time (Costa Rica beach, anyone?), and of course the random layoffs that occur with ad agencies. (Hard to relax when you're looking for work and close to broke,though.)

So the point of this ramble? I've never been away from my pets for this long. I really miss them.

On top of Old Smoky

Comin' to y'all from the Great Smokies - Appalachian country, mountaineer territory and all,

I'm not a fan of the South. It's hot, muggy, and there are a lot of bugs; many of which fly, and most of which bite. Oh, well, what we do for family.

Though the real South doesn't think of western North Carolina as the south - more like hillbilly country, as well as a lovely place to send the kids to camp. To a Floridian, it's cool and mild here in the summer, god help them.

Some highlights so far:
The Curb Market. This is a low building with vendors' stalls (kind of like a mountain version of Pike's Place Market) that I like to visit. The primary merchandise consists of jams, preserves, honey, etc.; birds' nests (couldn't tell you why); bad crafts and rag rugs. The rugs are woven from the leftovers from the tube sock factory in the vicinity, so they wear like iron. Here's a very nice lady who sold me a few, woven herself.

Mrs. Ledbetter

I feel like a true alien here. I have to ask people to repeat themselves several times before I understand them. This is the center of slow talk. I mean really slow. It's amazing.

It's very religious here, of course. Churches everywhere, and random signs like this.

I always like the juxtaposition of the cross and the Confederate flag, the symbol of white supremacy and human slavery. I was too chicken to stop and take the photo properly, so I took it through the windshield by the side of the road.

Tomorrow the hordes arrive for the three days of chaos, yelling and arguments that we call our family reunion. Do I sound excited?  Everyone else seems to enjoy it though. Hello, family who's reading this: I love each of you individually and enjoy your company. It's when you all get together that's kind of overwhelming. Just saying.

in the Smokies

Made it without incident to Hendersonville. That's in the western Smokies of North Carolina near Asheville. Here we hang out, swim in my parents' pool, cook, eat, and swat mosquitoes. Unfortunately I didn't swat enough yesterday and already have a bunch of bites. More to come.

beach

I have to post quickly as the wireless connectivity comes and goes and we have no connection ourselves - how archaic! Cellphone doesn't work either. Cut off from the world! Not so bad at the beach...

On the Train

Headed to Connecticut & sister #2. Henry was sad to leave Boston, but the train is a cool adventure. Next: the beach portion of the trip.

East coast edition

Pros/cons about the East Coast:

1. It's very lush                                           

2. Nothing ever dries

3. The humidity makes my nails look great         

4. It makes my hair go bonkers

5. There are tons of Red Sox fans everywhere

6. They're obnoxious and swear in front of my kid

7. The T gets you everywhere

8. It's hot, smelly and crowded

9. There's great ice cream on every corner

10. There's great ice cream on every corner

Back East

We made it here uneventfully, which is the best you can say with air travel. It's so lush here - I forget that when I'm in Bend. It's also so HUMID. And I'm in Boston - not nearly as bad as North Carolina will be. The actual atmosphere feels different: thicker and more palpable. Not to mention that I'm completely stuffed up and my hair has gone wild. That's why I live in Bend: good hair days.

We're staying at my sister's lovely old 3-story home in an upscale section of Brookline. It's right in town but feels very quiet and residential. We're just a few blocks from Comm. Ave., which is full city: falafel joints, the Gap, nail salons, all with the T running through the middle (aboveground subway - an oxymoron!). I went to grad school right near here at BU, so it feels vaguely like home, but unfamiliar as well. Makes me wonder whether I could live in a city again - would it feel normal and energizing, or would I long for my quiet rural/suburban life?

I realize I may have to make that choice, depending on the job situation by the end of the summer. But I don't want to think about that right now -- I just want to knit and visit with my sister, and enjoy being in the city with Henry.

Next post from Fenway!!

Crossing

On the long flight to Boston. H is watching a movie on the portable player, I'm knitting on & off, stuck in the middle seat between a large person and a squirmy Henry. This is one of the times I'm happy I'm small.

convergence???

Are you kidding me? This doesn't even include the laptop upon which I'm typing. Where is this convergence the industry keeps hyping? They still can't make an adequate universal charger.

top 10 tuesday: travel edition

Things we want to do back East:

1. Red Sox game, t-shirts, big pointing #1 fingers, the works
2. Smell the ocean (it smells different there)
3. Be around people of color
4. Buy rag rugs and jam at the Hendersonville Curb Market
5. Drive through the Big Dig tunnel (if the ceiling tiles stay up)
6. Eat New Haven pizza to see if it really is the best
7. Take the T in Boston
8. Eat a clam roll
9. Hang out by the pool with my family, reading mysteries
10. Mix my parents' annual gin and tonic