August 8th, 2007I've been away with Jonathan on a camping trip in Michigan and to visit to see a friend in Chicago. Internet was scarce, but I'm back. Below is an entry I wrote on the train on July 28th, but was unable to post it without an internet connection.
It's 1:28PM in the afternoon here in Manhattan. It's been one of those days in Manhattan, the kind we seem to have more and more of, the kind where a disaster, even a small disaster, disrupts everything and EVERYONE who lives here or nearby in the surrounding boroughs or New Jersey. Today's issue was a rainstorm that flooded the subways making nearly ALL lines inoperable. I had a dentist appointment that I missed and I walked downtown from 116th street to 14th street, with everyone else. It was like September 11th but in reverse; everyone was walking downtown today, instead of escaping the burning twin towers and walking up town. It really was a site to see, SO many people walking in one direction. The heat and humidity today is a huge factor as well as everyone is soaked in sweat and slightly delirious. I don't know if it's because I've lived in Manhattan for many years making it seems like small disasters are frequent, or if they actually ARE more frequent. Others that come to mind: the black out a couple summers ago that went on for a few days (that was a doozy), the subway strike in the dead of winter last year, the pipeline explosion two weeks ago at rush hour in front of Grand Central, and then of course September 11th 2001. I guess it's just par for the course. It's a busy city, things happen. I do know that the Subway seems to fail more often now even if it just RAINS....which I don't remember happening with the frequency it happens now. Today has been really nutty, especially since it's so hot and so many of the subway lines have been out. I'm sitting in a bookstore at Union Square right now and I see that most of the Subways are still down. I rescheduled my dental appointment for 3:00. Luckily I can sit in this Barnes and Noble that is just around the corner from my appointment and it's air conditioned.
That's it for now. Just wanted to write so that the blog doesn't completely evaporate and disappear. I will write more tomorrow....but for now, here's a new entry that's dated that I was unable to post while I was away:
July 28th, 7:42AM
On Amtrak train with Jonathan from New York City to Chicago. It's supposed to be an 18 hour train ride but I think it's going to be more like a 20 or more ride. We shall see. We left at 4:00PM yesterday from Manhattan and It's now Saturday morning, several hours ride still to go. It was about $300 for both of us, one way, on the train. We don't have to deal with gas and driving, even though in the end it may cost about the same to rent a car for the week.
I don't have a map and can't get online while we are moving so I had no idea where we were until we just stopped at a station and it was called Elmyra, Ohio.
So, I still don't know where we are because I don't know where Elmyra is, but I do know that we are in Ohio, which always reminds me of Chissie Hines from the Pretenders, that and election fraud. I just saw a water tower in a cornfield that read Erie County. So, that's also where we are, wherever that is. The sun is burning off the morning wetness and darkness. Steam is rising from cornfields, wet pavement and vast stretches of green. It's funny how it never gets boring looking out the window on a fast moving train. Even though we're in the middle of nowhere, we're always somewhere and there's always something to see, wether it's a small town or the lay of the land. There isn't much new housing, most of the houses we're passing this morning are old farm homes, beautiful, isolated. One wonders what it would be like to live in a beautiful field in a historic yet dormant town, with strange neighbors that probably own guns and have a son that is dealing in crystal meth. I guess it could be really nice for a short time, but I think boredom would set in, or loneliness (?), it's hard to say. I know that when I was in St. Barth for a month this summer, I got a lot done and enjoyed the seclusion, but it may be impossible to compare living on an island, literally, vrs living on an island, metaphorically - in the middle of Ohio or Indiana or some other vast stretch of land. The idea of having a PORCH and a yard where wildflowers can grow, maybe a peach tree and some blueberry bushes to harvest, throw in a chestnut tree and a huge house with an old staircase and glass doorknobs and an area for a big studio to work in sounds fantastic, but maybe only for 3 or 4 months out of the year, the other months could be spent back in the city.We just passed an odd lake with really old little 'cabins' dotting the edge of the bank. Next to the cabins were rusted and bombed out trailer homes, old ones, painted the limes, pinks and baby blues of the 1950's. Stuck in time and watching time go by while weeds and vines cover them, summer after summer.
The seats on the train are big enough to stretch out, and there is an outlet for the computer, but sleeping was horrible. Lot's of tossing and turning and temperature changes and air flow issues. At least Jonathan and I got to sit next to each other and it's actually been a pretty good ride so far, minus the sleeping problems. On the way back we may try to get a 'sleeper car'. Last night we watched a couple movies on the computer, we each had our own headphones and it was a nice time. On a whim, I picked up a copy of "Beetlejuice" for ten dollars at the drug store just before we got on the train. We also watched, "Gimme Shelter"
the Maysles brother's documentary on the Rolling Stones' free concert in San Francisco in 1969, where the Hell's Angels were in charge of security and kept on beating the shit out of the audience as they got drunker and drunker. Jefferson Airplane came on before the Stones and one of the Hell's Angel's smashed one of the band members in the face. 
Grace Slick the lead singer in the band was wearing a purple/blue, velour pant-suit with a matching scarf. She tried to keep singing while the pushing and fighting in the crowd kept going on. At one point the fighting was so bad she said something like, "people, people, people, stop the violence! Don't place your body on another person unless you intend love". You gotta love that. Once the Rolling Stones finally came on stage, they managed to sing a few songs but left shortly there after, whisked away in a helicopter from the crowd of thousands of fans that were high, often nude, and out of control. It's a great movie. Watching Mick Jagger at any point in the film, on or off the stage, is mesmerizing. He oozes talent. The kind of talent that just IS, the kind of talent that even he had a hard time controlling. It's ironic because there is no way the Stones could have been so talented, productive and exciting without drugs....speed, pot, alcohol, LSD. There's just no way one could face crowds like that, night after night, AND create great music without the aid of substances. Of course those substances were not always helpful, but for the most part, you wonder what the 60's, the music, the drive, the everything, would have been like without the drugs backing it up and tearing it down. Even the tearing down was art and was interesting, even when it brought death. Anyway, god bless the Rolling Stones, such an inspiration.We're supposed to meet our friend Nancy at the train station in Chicago but I'm sure our train will be late. We're going to spend the day in Chicago and then the three of us are driving to upper Michigan to go camping on some island in Lake Michigan for a few days. A deserted island where a ferry drops you off and comes back only once a day to pick you up, no cars. Apparently it was an inhabited island at one point, complete with abandoned homes and graveyards. I don't know the history, but I'm looking forward to exploring and taking pictures, AND looking forward to a lot of swimming!
We're in Toledo Ohio now, I wish I knew how far that is from Chicago. Jonathan is still sleeping. The sun is for sure up and out now. I'm going to enjoy the view, and fantasize owning an old farm house, with antique, glass doorknobs and watermelons growing just off the porch. I can't tell if this fantasy is depressing or exciting. I wonder what's up in Toledo Ohio these days? I'm not getting off the train, so I'll never know.
