Thursday, March 15, 2007

Elsewhere























The sunlight is brilliant and warm, but there's no sense of that inside. I am drenched by waves of incoming requests, concentrating and working hard to keep the boat afloat. Outside, the house painters have darkened all the windows with masking paper and plastic film, further dimmed by overspray of dark red trim paint. From in here, it's as if the unnaturally opaque and crepuscular air were lit by a bank of glowing coals. Combined with the intense work and the rising temperatures of a sudden spring, it's feeling a little underworldly in here. I closed my eyes for just a moment to take a deep breath. To my surprise, I heard the sound of wind through aspen trees and the gurgle of a nearby creek. Opening my eyes again, I recognized it's only the swaths of that featherweight plastic, worked loose and teased by the gusting wind, and the toilet down the hall that someone left running. But, for just a moment, I was somewhere else.

Life has me quite busy, so posting and commenting may be slightly erratic for a bit. Bear with me while my focus is temporarily drawn elsewhere.


Click on the photo for a larger version.

25 Comments:

Blogger robin andrea said...

That's quite a photograph. I think I would feel claustrophobic in a house with the windows covered like that. I like what you made of the house sounds.

3/15/2007 3:08 PM  
Blogger Zhoen said...

Sounds are flexible that way.

3/15/2007 4:49 PM  
Blogger rdl said...

Great pic! did i hear painting? lucky girl, we just talk about it.

3/15/2007 5:07 PM  
Blogger Mary J. said...

OMG, that was a lovely post. If only I could shut my eyes at work and imagine I'm somewhere as nice. I'd probably hear a zoo or a traffic jam, since I teach the 6th grade.

Lovely prose.

3/15/2007 5:31 PM  
Blogger Lori Witzel said...

Ah, the grid of overspray-coals. Sweeeet!

No worries, we'll all be here in the comments-kitchen (where did floots go with that ice-bucket?) waiting for you to come on back.

Yes, it's been busy out here too -- have had a massive itch to write more and little of the lots of time+quiet I need in which to let writing ripen.

3/15/2007 8:00 PM  
Blogger miss magic said...

that's such an enchanting photograph! looks like the house inside is burning.
I really wish I could go somewhere else by just closing my eyes! too much to wish for, eh?

3/16/2007 1:11 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Even as you work hard to "keep afloat" you life writes poetry out of a gurgling toilet and plastic.
Certainly life is beautiful through your eyes. I am inspired by your words that see beauty and hear music in the day to day events.

Good luck with that which you are working on.

The photo is wonderful, the red light!

3/16/2007 1:58 AM  
Blogger Pat Paulk said...

Amazing what the imagination can conjure up if let off the leash. We'll hang out til you get back.

3/16/2007 4:59 AM  
Blogger Fred Garber said...

Great prose and foto! "What a day for a daydream"....When I use to do that in school, I would get yelled at or worse....now that I am an adult....

3/16/2007 8:39 AM  
Blogger Pauline said...

If the sounds of nature, even imitated, can take you away, that's a good thing. (That sounds like a commercial for Calgon AND Martha Stewart.) At first I thought the photo was of light behind red curtains but I gather the picture is from the inside out, not the other way round.

3/16/2007 11:00 AM  
Blogger Richard Lawrence Cohen said...

Take your time, MB. We'll all be around.

3/16/2007 8:35 PM  
Blogger floots said...

i too am having distractions of one sort and another
take it easy

3/16/2007 10:07 PM  
Blogger alan said...

For your beautiful words and your use of them I'll wait as long as it takes!

That you can take my breath away describing this makes me even more in awe of you!

alan

3/17/2007 12:30 AM  
Blogger Marly Youmans said...

So glad for the explanation. I was afraid it might be a parlor in hell...

3/18/2007 10:25 AM  
Blogger mermaid said...

I think you've got it if you can hear that wind through the trees, even if it is just the swaths of plastic flapping.

3/18/2007 3:25 PM  
Blogger Bitterroot said...

Good luck with all you have going; this is such a striking image!

3/19/2007 7:11 AM  
Blogger trinitystar said...

Just imagine how wonderful it will be when it is all done.
hugs for you ... :o)

3/19/2007 7:13 AM  
Blogger gautami tripathy said...

It will be done soon, don't you worry.

3/19/2007 8:24 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

swoooosh! Just sit back and enjoy the transition MB.
~@~

3/19/2007 4:24 PM  
Blogger MB said...

Robin Andrea, there were times I found it fascinating, and other times it felt a bit oppressive. But now, I can work in the light again.

zhoen, especially if you use your imagination!

rdl, thanks.

Mary, I guess you work with what you've got! Thanks.

Lori, that's exactly right: I've too little of the lots of time+quiet to write at the moment... it's just that lack of mental space. Anything else I can leave you in the comments kitchen while I'm gone?

Miss Magic, the photo was actually taken from the inside looking out. With a name like yours, I'd think you might be able to go where you wish when you close your eyes!

Corey, you know me — always looking for the beauty and the light. Don't always succeed, but I always try, it's part of the balance.

Pat, no kidding! Thanks.

Fred, I'll have you know that song was going in my head all day long after reading your comment. Now that you're an adult? Sounds like content for a poem, maybe!

Pauline, your comment made me chuckle. Yes, the photo was taken from inside looking out.

Richard, thanks for your patience, friend.

Floots, always a pleasure to have you stop by when you can. (Lori says above that you ran off with the ice bucket... trust you to not toe the line! ;-)

Alan, your heartfelt comments always make my day. Thank you.

Marly, it sometimes began to feel that way. I tried to look at it as art of some sort, but I confess the whole experience "got old" fast. Thank goodness it's all taken down now!

Mermaid, what I've got is an active imagination!

Bitterroot, thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.

Trinitystar, thank you.

Gautami, before I know it, I'm sure.

anonymous, thanks for breezing by!
~@~

3/19/2007 6:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

¡Mi placer doncella...mi placer!
~@~

3/19/2007 8:20 PM  
Blogger snowsparkle said...

i'm with you mb!

"But, for just a moment, I was somewhere else." classic lines!

beautiful! thank you!

3/19/2007 8:42 PM  
Blogger MB said...

anonymous, gracias, tu sabes que siempre es un placer verte, mi amigo.k
~@~

Snowsparkle, I consider finding beauty like that one of life's necessities and I'm glad to have the company. thanks!

3/20/2007 8:52 AM  
Blogger MB said...

Michelle, thanks. ;-)

3/23/2007 12:37 PM  
Blogger M. Shahin said...

"I am drenched by waves of incoming requests, concentrating and working hard to keep the boat afloat."

I can definitely relate and the photo really says it all.

3/25/2007 12:51 PM  

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