Thawing
In Pennsylvania or Chicago or Michigan it stayed frozen until April, but it feels like the world is still alive all winter here, always green and damp. We had an ice storm, then after it melted the ground really smelled awful from all the berries and leaves that were rotting under the ice.
I haven't played guitar all winter, it's more of a Front Porch Activity, just because it feels so imposing to make Alyssa listen to me sing the same songs over and over again in the house. Ideally I lie on my back on the porch on a hot night and the guitar vibrates on top of me. We've had a few warm days, so I've been sitting on our porch swing and playing, which I've missed. I got a nylon string guitar recently, a really small cheap guitar I can swing around with one hand and not worry about bonking on the door or whatever.
I've been having vivid dreams where I write a song or hear a song, and I hung the guitar next to my bed so I can try to write the songs down when I wake up. The most significant songs I've dreamt have been a jingle for an all-you-can-eat pizza restaurant and a song called "Mind of a Cat," but a few weeks ago I dreamt a song that just goes "I hit my hand this morning, it was good," and I recorded it as soon as I woke up. You can hear Comet patting around behind me then me running the faucet to brush my teeth, sorry. I did it again later with the guitar.
I've been running more, helping Michael and Kolter get ready for the Eugene Marathon. We ran on Sauvie Island a few weeks ago and I saw a dead beaver on the road, the first time I've ever seen a beaver at all. It was way bigger than I expected, its tail was so thick and scaly, and it had gnarly claws on its back feet. There's no shoulder on Sauvie and trucks blow past us going 70. There (dead beaver) but for the grace of God go we. I signed up to run a 5K in March, the first 5K since I've worked on being fast, and it's daunting to set a date when I know I'll feel bad. Like: check the calendar, there's the day my legs are going to be screaming and my brain's going to be out of oxygen and I make myself run anyway.
