the dogs of my neighborhood

we've got so many dogs around here. some of them on leads, most of them free. there is a big, fuzzy blackish one that wanders up and down connsbrook ave; sometimes he sprawls out on the pavement in front of his house, other times he hangs out at the chip shop or the co-op with his beagle-ish friend. i greet him with hands in pockets usually--i'm always the girl who gets bitten. famous last words: don't worry; he won't bite.

and there is the small lab dog, old and black with a white, stubbly muzzle, who follows behind the old man with the umbrella. he is a worried dog, always looking around, googly-eyed through cataracts. "it ain't too different a view through your eyes than through mine," i think yesterday, as i walk to the library, cold. "it's all mist and grey, regardless." i walk on, looking down, avoiding puddles, listening to beth orton's "paris train" on my walkman: sometimes, sometimes we can see beyond our history, the last place you hope to find is the one that's been there all the time. sometimes we can swim beyond the scenery and the first place that's on your mind is the first place you'd find each time

two blocks behind cataract lab is an old woman with a lead and no dog, it seems at first glance. then i pass her, and notice that she is dragging a grey poodle, who appears to be back-peddling, futilely, while continuously being pulled forward, forward along the wet sidewalk.

they painted a mural on the post office last week. i watched them secure the scaffolding and paint a heart, bright red. in a city of endless murals donning masked men with machine guns and frightening political loyalties, our new mural is quite the contrast. finished in just over 24 hours, the heart has the words "post office" neatly written in its center, and springing forth from it are endless letters (letters like mail, not alphabet). of course, there is the requisite mailman being chased by a dog (a vaguely familiar neighborhood dog, i'm sure) and laughing children: royal mail as bringers of peace and joy and letters from loved ones.

sometimes we can swim beyond the scenery.

here i am.

hello friends. please excuse my absence; i've been away! josh and sandy (nashville roommates extraordinaire) came to visit our grey town late last week, and i have spent my days exploring with them, as well as with jenna and trevor. on saturday, we all drove up the coast to castle rock [read: five full-size people in nissan micra, which does not get its name arbitrarily], and spent the night at the downhill hostel (some great photos at this link). it was a laid back kind of weekend. lots of laughter and cardplaying. we walked on the very cold beach at sunset on saturday. the hills in the distance were blue and hazy. you had to run to keep warm. so i did. and i skipped. and i was very excited about making my own footprints in the clean slate sand.

our room was wonderful for sleep. right outside my window was a gurgly creek which immediately lulled me to sleep. jenna had a view of the full moon rising behind a cliff from her window: northern ireland illuminated. we were happy girls in bunkbeds.

yesterday was a cold day of adventure. we drove back down the coast, stopping at dunluce castle and giant's causeway. i've been to both of these places before, but i am still undone by them. dunluce, much like the nunnery ruins on iona, was so carefully crafted, stone on stone, and--after nearly 1,000 years of wind and war--still stands. and the causeway, with its uniformly pentagonal mystery of rocks is, as sandy says, "comforting to think that God prefers things to be orderly, just like me."

today is a dismal monday, wet and cold. i have tried very hard to be productive today, but have not gotten much further than a load of laundry and some grocery-shopping (though i did get those newfangled tetlea teabags with drawstrings that are supposedly drip-free...not sure what to make of the tea-drips on the counter, though). a couple phonecalls and some emailing. that is about it. *whew* it's enough.

in other news: my latest journal update is now up on finding balance. please stop by. thanks!

and now to some tea...