the holidays have brought me to the city, away from my home at the beach.last night, at a party, more than one person asked me, "what are you doing in Newport?!"
and i didn't really have an answer. What do you do in Portland? Eat? Shop? Look at eachother?
because i don't do
anything
in this world, really.
when i get into my bed at night and listen to the sound
of waves
i could be anywhere, almost
and when i step outside in the dark
look up
and see Orion standing proudly
unobscured by halogen
i could be in Utah or Minnesota
but i am not.
"Your town is so blah."
he said,
and i thought,
look at all of this concrete
and noise:
Portland is like an exotic place
full of well-meaning people
(what are they doing?)
who say the right things to each other
at gatherings
(they aren't parties anymore)
and Newport is that drab
child
who
doesn't have much to say
but who, over the years, as you get
to know her
turns out to be your favorite.
Here in the city i can get
Fourme de Haute Loire
and also
rare olive cultivars
at the grocery store
but i can't pry mussels off of sea rocks
or dive for sea bass
after work,
so i guess it is a trade-off
like starlight for noise
water for concrete.
4 comments:
portland! he he ehe .. i had mussles last night and not the one you pay 15 bucks a pound for either ... fresh from the salty rock
as they say...if you're lucky enough to live by the sea, you're lucky enough.
did you catch a glimpse of the universe at burnside? if not, you're never going to see it. just kidding. well not really, isn't the goal to be able to catch a glimpse of reality wherever you happen to be standing.
i understand the sentiment though. there is only one place i could happily drop dead right now on the cliff tops and be consumed be sea birds and worms and be completely OK with it. but that place is thousands of miles away- so i better start broadening my horizons.
i haven't been surfing.
humans are confounding. myself-- i prefer the company of the sea.
i have been surfing, but not as much as i would like. beach running and old growth spruce forest exploring are place holders now.
the universe is always expanded by the contrasts we see in things, no? maybe this vs. that provides the basis for imagining alternatives.
surely there must be more.
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