And, yeah, all this is probably TMI. Probably more than you want to hear and more than I want to be saying. But there it is anyway. The confession that my mind is bereft of an OFF switch.
We did at least have a very good walk yesterday. A bit more than two miles, through the three easternmost of Olmsted's Atlanta parks, beginning with Oak Grove (née Brightwood). We discovered a wonderful bit of wilderness between Oak Grove and the next park over (Shadyside), a swath of woods along the banks of Lullwood Creek. A steep descent from Ponce, but it's wonderfully green and leafy down there. Turns out, this is the northern end of the same patch of woods where we released Drinker, connecting to the south with Candler Park. Spooky and I speculated on all the varieties of reptiles and amphibians we could possibly glimpse there in the green shadows. In the presence of those trees and vines and the creek, it was easy to pretend we were nowhere near a city. Anyway, after our detour to Lullwood Creek, we continued east to Shadyside Park, where we left Atlanta and walked into Decatur. We followed Shadyside all the way to the easternmost edge of Dellwood Park at the intersection of Ponce de Leon and Ponce de Leon South.
David called from Athens yesterday, but Spooky spoke with him; I didn't. We read another chapter of The Children of Húrin. I did a drawing for
I think an actual political entry is brewing. Maybe. I haven't made one of those in ages, it seems. My appetite and tolerance for politics have diminished until they are almost nonexistent.
Here are the lyrics to Tori Amos' "Bouncing Off Clouds," behind the cut, because it seemed I should point out that they have nothing much whatsoever to do with the actual story that is "The Ape's Wife." That's almost always how it is. It's the sound of the song, the mood it evokes, not the lyrics, when it comes to the music I get stuck on while writing:
Bouncing off of Clouds we were
Is there a love Lost and Found
Make it easy
Make this easy
It's not as heavy as it seems
Wrapped in metal
Wrapped in ivy
Paint it in mint ice cream
We could be Bouncing off the top of this Cloud
I'll put on my silver
We could be Bouncing off the top of this Cloud
Failure to respond but
I did. But did you listen
Bouncing off the top of this Cloud
I'll put on my silver
About what you said, has it come to this?
I'll put on my silver
Bouncing off the top of this Cloud
Well you can stare all day at the sky
But that won't bring her back
That won't bring her back
You say you're waiting on fate
But I think fate is now
I think fate is now
Waiting on us
Make it easy
Easy easy
We could make this easy
Easy love easy
We could make this easy
Make this easy
It's not as heavy as it seems
Wrapped in metal
Wrapped in ivy
Blue umbrellas now smiling
We could be Bouncing off the top of this Cloud
I'll put on my silver
About what you said, has it come to this?
I'll put on my silver
Bouncing off the top of this Cloud
I'll put on my silver
About what you said, has it come to this?
I'll put on my silver
Bouncing off the top of this Cloud
Bouncing off of Clouds we were
By the way, turns out I actually listened to "Bouncing Off Clouds" 160 times, over the course of three days, while writing "The Ape's Wife."
* That is, something besides a walk, as walking rarely ever manages to occupy my mind.