Rain in Summer

I'm feeling happy about my new city.

As I sit here in my second story window there is a morning rain coming down. Not a light rain, and not a thunderstorm, but a heavy rain that looks like it might stay awhile. It's August, and where I'm from, it almost never rains in the summer. I find it nice though, a great relief that we're escaping some of the sweltering heat for which DC is famous.

One of the things I like about living in many locations--and one of the things that makes it a challenge--is observing the differences between the places. Differences in weather, in culture, in the way people approach life. I could believe I am on another planet if I focused on the differences between here and Las Vegas. My life is similar, I even go to some of the same places--the gym, Trader Joe's, Asian restaurants, etc., but even those places, and the people in them, are very different.

People here wear suits everyday, and dress very conservatively. They're not hip and they're not trying to be hip--the polar opposite of Vegas. It's like they have a uniform or dress code to follow. The suits all look the same during the week (no hip European cuts) and even young women dress a bit like Madeline Albright (Do scarves=power?). On the weekend it's workout clothes to relax in, and Tevas are the shoe of choice with shorts. Ouch.

Besides commiserating about the Redskins all they talk about on radio is politics and politics. There's nothing resembling dance club music when I walk into the gym, and no one seems to be there to show off their latest plastic surgery results. The hot moms that workout in the mornings are covered up--t-shirts and baggy shorts! They're not even trying to get attention for themselves--they're just on maternity leave and can't wait to get back to their power office. There's hardly anyone listening to iPods and NO ONE is talking on their cell phone in the gym--just isn't done. There's talking heads on every monitor, not talk shows or reality TV.

My conclusion is that this city is full of really important people, and I'm probably going to have to find some unimportant people with which to hang around. Or, maybe I'll try to put all my new-found smarts from reading the Washington Post every day to good use and talk to them in their language. Of course I'll need an important job, and apparently, I'll have to get some cards printed....

But change is nice, and people here are nice. Maybe in a serious, workaholic, buisiness-like way, but they're polite. They say hello when you pass them. They ARE hip, they're just operating on a different scale, one that measures DC power and prestige. Several of our neighbors came out to meet us within an hour of our arrival, and invited us to a block party. (At the party, I was asked for my card--like everyone has a card and would bring it to a BBQ!). We lived in Vegas for three years and didn't know a soul that lived on our block. (I blame the garage door opener--it is single-handedly responsible for the breakdown of American community.)

The architecture is nice, the city is old and beautiful. Big trees, charming rowhouses, classic beauty--not like anywhere else we've lived. I forgot how much I like it here--and I haven't even mentioned the parks, museums, monuments and memorials I've started visiting again. George Washington ate and slept at a tavern a few blocks away for crying out loud! I guess I shouldn't be surprised, his house in only a few miles down the river.

Rain in summer is a nice change.

Yikes!

I'm taking an online writing class where we are required to do assignments and then post them for the class to read....

So, PERFECT STRANGERS are reading my attempts at writing--and COMMENTING!

Here, in what I like to think is my circle of friends, I feel scared enough writing my true thoughts....but that may be an illusion of control. After all, this is the world wide web!

Day One

It's day one of my new writing life. Not really, I've been writing awhile. But it's the first day here, in this new city, in my new creative space, that I woke up, detoured only to make coffee, then marched down the hall to my desk to start writing. It's the plan for my life here--make writing the first and most important thing, rather than the thing I do if there is time left at the end of the day.

We've taken a month to get settled, and only Monday did I finish painting this room the warm colors I felt would help me find my silent voice. Yesterday was spent clearing obligations from my desk, then today, up and to the pen, journal and computer. Of course there were the ever-present distractions, email, a dog who wants walking, and even my husband was around this morning, and shouldn't I have breakfast with him? But I've decided what life here is going to look like, and I'm going to give it my best shot. Up to write in the mornings, work in the afternoons and evenings around people that will hopefully offset the intense introspection and discipline of the morning.

I've never done this--make some work of mine the most important thing and not let anything stop me from doing it. I know plenty of people who do it every day. They completely clear their life and everything falls behind the goals they set, and guess what, they achieve them! Instead I've always felt my way through life, making sure I was being real and right and taking care of those I loved, and then, maybe do a little work for someone else and then myself. Not bad, but I need to balance it out. It's a bit hard for me, I don't want to live my life like these people I see, who often end up after years of working to find they don't really know themselves, their families and have nothing left but their work. But I am consciously exercising my will and discipline to give my first few hours a day to this which I have always wondered about and desired to do, only with the full belief that it will not be a distraction from real life but a huge part of knowing myself and what really matters.

And I'm going to try really hard not to let anything stop me.