5.21.2010

Rocking Chairs and Laffy Taffy

I stepped off the plane in Charleston and breathed in the sugary air. I could instantly feel my skin begin to moisten and my arms felt sluggish and sticky, like Laffy Taffy, as I tried to carry all of my bags to the Arrival Gate. The only time I had seen this many trees in one place was when I worked at Hume Lake in the Sequoia National Forest, and that was a forest. These trees were huge, green, leafies, and they were surrounding an airport of all places.

We walked through the terminal quickly, eager to meet our friend Tucker at the exit, but something caught my eye that made me stop for quick moment. Facing the windows that overlooked planes pulling to their gates was a row of rocking chairs. A small giggle escaped from my lips as I observed a couple rocking back and forth, waiting for their loved one to arrive.



I could immediately tell this was going to be not only an exciting vacation, but an interesting one, full of lessons about taking my time and possibly not honking my car horn as much.

We continued on through the rest of the terminal until we reached the Arrival Gate. Tucker pulled up in his car and after exchanging hugs and hellos, I plopped myself in the backseat with the flurry-tailed dogs, who were eager to get in their kisses, too. When Tucker finally pulled away from the airport I rolled down my window to cool myself off a bit, and was hit with sugar air again. I put my arm outside and let the air hit me, and it felt just like sticky, slow, sweet Laffy Taffy.

5.20.2010

I've Got a Feeling... That Tonight's Gonna Be A _______ Night.

Tonight I am doing a reading with my writing workshop at the Eagle Rock Center for the Arts, and I have been looking forward to it for several weeks. I was so excited about sharing my work with people I didn’t know, and thrilled to find out that the Pasadena Weekly is going to be coming.

But I woke up this morning with this nasty black scarf of anxiety clinging to my neck. I am terrified that I picked the wrong piece of work to read and worried that I am going to shake a little bit or screw-up the words when I talk.

I want to do a good job. I want to read something that will connect with people. But I’m afraid the selection I have chosen about my mom and me is far from anything anyone could connect with. Do I come across as arrogant or childish or selfish or bratty? Is there some sense of closure? Or will anyone want to read more of it? I still have a lot of re-working to do today, and I am pretty sure I may just end up changing pieces all together, but I’m worried it won’t be enough, or it won’t matter.

I just want tonight to be a good night.

A good, good night.