Crow sitting on a post
Nov. 8th, 2018 03:38 pmI saw a crow in New York, beside the highway, as my uncle was driving me from Brooklyn up toward Queens. (Vine-choked trees...) The crow was sitting on a post, or possibly taking flight. There's something so odd/not odd about encountering an emblematic animal. I think I've never seen a crow in the feathers before, but fantasy has flocks of them. I've read more about crows than about most of the birds I actually spend any time seeing in daily life.
...
In Boston a week later, walking the Freedom Trail (and finding that I hadn't supplied myself with enough context for it) I walked into a church with box pews. I must have read many novels in which church pews are privately claimed by families, but I'd never actually stopped to imagine it, and that was very pleasingly strange. Had a small conversation with the person at the door about how that actually worked, how families whose fortunes were up might move to a better pew, how a man going away to war might sell his to someone else.
(The other thing which I remember best from the Freedom Trail is sitting on a bridge over the Charles River whose whole middle section was a metal grating, water visible a long way below and each passing car striking a different thrumming note. A thing to remember when traveling: water makes me happy).
Now I'm home, and (surprise surprise) there is everything to do, so my intention of writing about the rest of my trip has reduced down to this size. The quality of being stressed and busy overseas is very different than the quality of being well-acquainted with all the moving parts of the next week and seeing that they're moving rather fast. But it's also lovely to be back. The last few days I've been in the garden, one of them working with![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
seahearth, which is the first time we've gardened together in I don't know how long. They are much better company than podcasts, even podcasts about the French Revolution.
And in twelve days I'm going again, to Greece. Which seems soon. And exciting. (This is progress; when I was lost and tired in Montreal, what it seemed was a completely nonsensical plan, you fool). I had better go now and get out the library books about Corinth I should probably have been reading for oh, about the last month. The element of nonsensical plan you fool will otherwise start increasing sharply.
...
In Boston a week later, walking the Freedom Trail (and finding that I hadn't supplied myself with enough context for it) I walked into a church with box pews. I must have read many novels in which church pews are privately claimed by families, but I'd never actually stopped to imagine it, and that was very pleasingly strange. Had a small conversation with the person at the door about how that actually worked, how families whose fortunes were up might move to a better pew, how a man going away to war might sell his to someone else.
(The other thing which I remember best from the Freedom Trail is sitting on a bridge over the Charles River whose whole middle section was a metal grating, water visible a long way below and each passing car striking a different thrumming note. A thing to remember when traveling: water makes me happy).
Now I'm home, and (surprise surprise) there is everything to do, so my intention of writing about the rest of my trip has reduced down to this size. The quality of being stressed and busy overseas is very different than the quality of being well-acquainted with all the moving parts of the next week and seeing that they're moving rather fast. But it's also lovely to be back. The last few days I've been in the garden, one of them working with
seahearth, which is the first time we've gardened together in I don't know how long. They are much better company than podcasts, even podcasts about the French Revolution. And in twelve days I'm going again, to Greece. Which seems soon. And exciting. (This is progress; when I was lost and tired in Montreal, what it seemed was a completely nonsensical plan, you fool). I had better go now and get out the library books about Corinth I should probably have been reading for oh, about the last month. The element of nonsensical plan you fool will otherwise start increasing sharply.
