east west

what else can we absorb?

virginia snowed while i was there, which i thought was very kind of her. it's so peaceful out there when all the sound is absorbed. not that there's even that much to absorb. but it reminded me of a dream i had in early autumn, at the height of my missing the physical land of virginia - where i'm in the yard and i go to lay my face on the grass (not like it's even soft grass - it cuts and tears you up if you lay in it).....and i keep telling dad over and over "it's so quiet.....it's so quiet....it's so quiet". so i guess portland really is loud, even if it doesn't like you to think so.
i recorded grandma and grandpa (they sound so perfectly southern, it's almost comical). i recorded anda & irene (anda's english is improving). i recorded mom telling about how she burnt down 8 acres of forest when she was ten years old. i recorded dad telling me where he drank his first dr. pepper and had his first taco (i felt strange asking him about that....he has much better stories, but i was drawing a frantic blank and all i could think about was food). i have a feeling that very few of these things will be significant to anyone but myself, but isn't that enough?
while i was in town, dad was in the middle of inspecting a 1920's hotel that's going to be converted to a retirement community. he invited michael & i to come explore with him, so we checked out the patrick henry hotel on saturday afternoon. and it's the stuff that dreams are made of - apparently it opened in 1925 and did well until the crash in 1929 - and it's been struggling ever since. how it made it to 2005, i don't know. but you walk through an ornate lobby, through seedy back offices, down some stairs and then you run into a dining room - with the table all set for service of 18. covered with dust, just hidden back there. in the basment, there's an old night club with the chairs still sitting around the tables, facing the stage. there's an art deco floor with geometric furniture. i recorded our whole afternoon there, but i doubt that anyone will enjoy hearing us open creaky doors and stomp down old steps. maybe i'm not quite ready for the next big thing.
peter and i are preparing for our first vacation in march. out to montana for alex's wedding and then down through idaho and nevada to stay with an iranian tea merchant in san francisco. then we'll head up the coast through the redwoods (i hear they're so grand that they almost force you to worship) and maybe check out crater lake before arriving back in portland.

posted by jessica @ 10:48 AM