I N T H E N I G H T K I T C H E N 8.24.2002
Last night I went to a show at the Fez -- a made-over ballroom. Nice space. Saw Asylum Street Spankers. They were great. It felt like a really special, momentous night to be there. They happen to be bunking with friends of mine during their Oregon tour and I got to sit in on an rehearsal session earlier this week up on their front porch. The porch is pretty large until you get a seven-piece band jamming on it. Mr. Lee (the aged convenience store owner from across the way) came over to listen to the band, doing a pretty good funky bop in his wife-beater and baggy shorts. He brought over a bottle of Gallo White Zin as a present. Just perfect. The rehearsal was nice -- very, very cool. The performance last night was phenomenal. I didn't get home till 2. I went with the friends and their friends and there was so much laughing last night. It wasn't a full moon, I think it was just the Spankers. + + + The last week or so has been crazy. I've gotten little sleep until the past few days. T. broke his collar-bone flying over the handlebars of his bike. I took him to the emergency room -- thought I was going to pass out myself. So, I've been playing nursemaid and, until just recently, he has needed help getting into bed which meant that at 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 in the morning when he got up to use the bathroom and take a Vicodin that I needed to wake up too and ease him back onto the pillow. Poor guy. It really sucks. He's doing better, though. He'll start physical therapy this week and though the pain has lessened I suspect the exercise will make him really sore. My parents were here for two days. I crammed them and my little brother into our tiny house. It was a strange visit and not as satisfying as I hoped. I was also about on the end of my rope from lack of sleep and stress. I'd spent the last week cleaning the house (which was a total wreck) all by myself. T. helped out where he could but caring for him, cleaning the house, trying to do freelance work -- damn, I was exhausted. I did cook a great dinner for my folks, though. Grilled fresh salmon, smothered (doesn't that word always make it sound that much more luscious?) in a honey and mustard and sweet onion glaze and sprinkled with dill. On the side: fresh broccoli from our very own garden, steamed with butter and seasoning and a big pot of rice that was very-nearly ruined but then wasn't. For dessert we had Tillamook 'Brown Cow' ice-cream which is delicious beyond words. They were impressed. Which is good because I seem to be looking for validation of my life from my parents. I've been wanting them to acknowledge that I have a good life in a pretty cool place which is fun and interesting. Why? No idea. Who knew that this feeling was inside of me? I think I can let it go, though. They ate well. We walked to the grocery together and to the little breakfast place down the way because we can. My mom said it made her think of when she was young and first married. That seems like an acknowledgement to me and I'll take it. + + + Speaking of marriage, we just celebrated our fourth anniversary. The traditional gift is fruit and flowers. I can think of few better gifts to give, really. Sustenance and beauty. Items to fill the senses. T. brought me flowers and I think I will celebrate by going to the farmer's market tomorrow and looking for fresh peaches. He also got me the traditional working-woman's gifts of desk chair and ergonomic keyboard tray. I've been feeling the onset of some carpal-tunnel and that's not good. It was quite a wonderful surprise and the chair is quite a bit more comfortable. I may go back and see if there's a smaller one, though. I feel a bit like a little girl spinning in Daddy's big executive office chair, giggling and annoying the secretary. But this one may stay (perhaps for that reason alone). Besides, nothing warms my heart more than a gift which is also a tax write-off. + + + Lastly, I wanted to recount an overnight camping trip that we did recently in a moment of spontaneity. We decided on a Saturday that we should think about camping out Sunday night to catch the Perseid meteor shower. We started throwing stuff in the car Sunday afternoon and then headed toward Mt. Hood. We decided to see if there were camping spots up at Trillium Lake -- a popular destination. There weren't any standard sites so we ended up in an overflow area which seemed to be populated by the kind of campers who bring boomboxen out into the wilderness so that they aren't without their special kind of trashy music. It turned out not to be so bad and everyone was quiet by the time we turned in. We set up by the lake's edge at a picnic table with our sleeping bags and playing cards and a candle lantern. I put my camera up on a tripod and set it for a long exposure. I haven't taken the film in yet so I don't know what I got. I know one of the images will probably be bust but the other might be nice. Trillium Lake is small but stunning. It sits at the foot of Mt. Hood, perfectly reflecting the mountain in all its glory. The moon that night was this wee slip of a crescent and it hung low in the sky at dusk. Actually, it hung so low that it appeared caught in the cottony, pink clouds on the horizon. It dipped below the horizon and the sky that night was so clear. Early on we could pick out constellations but as it got darker and the sky filled with stars it became more and more difficult to keep track of where Cassiopeia and Perseus were going. We stayed out in our bags, laying on the picnic table until 1 in the morning, talking quietly and being silent for long stretches of time. For all the campers out there that night only a handful came down to the lake to watch. We saw probably twenty or so meteors -- some very small and some large with wonderful tails. When we got up to go -- it was cold and we were falling asleep -- we saw that the night was so clear and the lake was so still that the stars were reflected in the lake. The Big Dipper was in the lake! T. came over and wrapped his arms around me. We were looking toward the mountain when I saw a meteor streak right over the top of it. I asked, "Did you see that!" He said, "I saw it in the lake." That night as I lay in the tent, I was still looking out at the stars through the little mesh top window. As I drifted off, the tent top seemed to melt away, replaced by the starry sky. I dreamt of starlight all night long. 
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