phoenix
The other day, I was browsing through a local shop full of oriental rugs, handmade jewelry, and eclectic vintage items... Just my kind of store, the kind that has something unique in every corner, and you could walk around 8 times and still not see it all. I'd wanted to introduce Christa, my dear friend visiting from Ohio, to the store where I got her birthday gift of used books, you see. (She likes old, well-loved books that "smell good.") I ended up finding this random old pendant on a worn gold chain, on the clearance table for $5. It's red with this white bird on it, which I initially thought was some kind of crowned eagle, like it was a coat of arms. Turns out it's a Phoenix, and even though I can't help thinking of those sappy ads for Phoenix University, I still like the symbolism of it. In high school, even, when a group of us were trying to figure out what animals we'd all be, I was dubbed a phoenix. I'm pretty sure that was because of my nose and had nothing to do with rebirth in an explosion of flames, but whatever, I can pretend.
Today I reluctantly drove Christa back to the airport, after a great few days together, filled with endless conversations (who needs sleep, anyway?) and even more relentless laughter... time spent in Portsmouth, Boston, and my hometown in NH--time full of refreshing, breath-of-life energy... How wonderful it is! to have someone who understands you so fully and is willing to share herself with you, even if she's seen photos from when you were 10 years old and looked like you were temporarily replaced by a strange, obscenely awkward Martian child. Someone who inspires you to be more than you are, who gets you excited about life all over again no matter how much of a rut you feel you've fallen into.
On top of that, I can finally breathe again, after being completely knocked out by a cold turned sinus infection turned ear infection (the remains of which are still screwing with my hearing and making everything sound slightly out of tune--starting to drive this musician crazy!!). To put it like Erin did recently, it's like "*deep breath* AHHH I can breathe! I can take over the WORLD now!" Maybe that feeling also has something to do with the unusual amount of liquid courage I imbibed these past few days, or the crisp fall weather, or the sight of the ocean, or a brief escape from the mountains into civilization. Hmm... I vote all of the above.
Cruising down NH highways today, I closed my phoenix pendant in my non-steering-wheel-occupied hand, the heat it'd collected from the morning sun slowly sinking into my palm. This thing is gonna be my lucky charm, I thought. The first thing I did upon arrival back home, was split my toe open on a walkway stone. Dammit! [Way to ruin the moment, toe. god.] Well, ok... maybe it can still be my lucky charm for like, important things.
Today I reluctantly drove Christa back to the airport, after a great few days together, filled with endless conversations (who needs sleep, anyway?) and even more relentless laughter... time spent in Portsmouth, Boston, and my hometown in NH--time full of refreshing, breath-of-life energy... How wonderful it is! to have someone who understands you so fully and is willing to share herself with you, even if she's seen photos from when you were 10 years old and looked like you were temporarily replaced by a strange, obscenely awkward Martian child. Someone who inspires you to be more than you are, who gets you excited about life all over again no matter how much of a rut you feel you've fallen into.
On top of that, I can finally breathe again, after being completely knocked out by a cold turned sinus infection turned ear infection (the remains of which are still screwing with my hearing and making everything sound slightly out of tune--starting to drive this musician crazy!!). To put it like Erin did recently, it's like "*deep breath* AHHH I can breathe! I can take over the WORLD now!" Maybe that feeling also has something to do with the unusual amount of liquid courage I imbibed these past few days, or the crisp fall weather, or the sight of the ocean, or a brief escape from the mountains into civilization. Hmm... I vote all of the above.
Cruising down NH highways today, I closed my phoenix pendant in my non-steering-wheel-occupied hand, the heat it'd collected from the morning sun slowly sinking into my palm. This thing is gonna be my lucky charm, I thought. The first thing I did upon arrival back home, was split my toe open on a walkway stone. Dammit! [Way to ruin the moment, toe. god.] Well, ok... maybe it can still be my lucky charm for like, important things.