It's the kind of night that I just love to stumble into. Actually, the entire day unfolded in this manner, floating through the (very rainy) day with no agenda. The chaos of university midterms have passed and it's full-on 'bring on final exams in 5 weeks' mode. What an intensely unusual year it's been for me- all good, just unusual. I have these images of the year that have been floating through my mind at any given time, and they just make me smile.
Today being the first day of the long holiday, my brain just automatically reset. Eyes wide open and adjusting the kaleidoscope to a higher frequency to carry me on the clouds throughout this week.
Clouds...My body felt the weather change this morning, so autumn has finally arrived. Sometime during the Bewitching Hour it started raining with the wind blowing through the panels. I'm still unwilling to close the French doors...either at night or during the day. I've spent a lifetime nearly watching these panels blow with the wind; they are a part of me that I cherish, or perhaps even guard. Stories drip down to the ground from them; different countries, different smells, different breezes. I wonder where I'll hang them in Portugal.
The rain came down for hours today. That mood; my being filling with anticipation and curiosity for the weather change. I had started noticing the subtle nuances the past few days; chillier mornings, taking longer to get out of bed, crazy-beautiful sunrise colors, etc.
This is all leading up to how I was already choosing how to spend my evening tonight—watching all the midterm pundits talking from my favorite podcasts and YouTube channels: Breaking Points, The Young Turks, The Majority Report, and my absolute favorites saved for last: Pod Save America and The Bulwark. I also threw in Steve Kornacki because he does such an awesome job analyzing results live all night long (Sarah turned me onto him while living in Istanbul). She was right.
There was a small window of opportunity in the early afternoon to hop on my bike to get supplies before it would start raining again. It felt strange to put on so many protective layers, but sure enough, as soon as I started off, I was so glad I didn't listen to the part of myself that was whispering 'fuck it, it's not cold yet.'
I was mainly motivated by the need to secure some meat. Every few weeks I just crave meat, and today was the day my body begged for an overdose of protein. I also wanted to get in a workout, and in rainy weather going downtown to get supplies counts as a workout.
Okay, it's 12:30 am and all the shows are live now, so I'm signing off. But, before I go, there is another sensation I've been feeling all night: so many friends around the globe are also doing the same thing I'm doing right now. Obviously a lot of friends back in the U.S. are monitoring closely today, but I've also reconnected with friends in Turkey, China, France, the Middle East, NZ, Portugal, etc.
There is something about the ritual of re-connection. I realize I can go for a year at times without communicating with a friend and then all of the sudden just fall right back into rhythm with them like it was only yesterday.
Here comes the rain again and with it, a low ground fog. What a surreal scene I catch glimpses of, as my silk panels sway with the wind.
And the main point, I think, struck me hard this afternoon; I've been away from 'home' for nearly two decades, but continuing to follow news and watching this election go down... it's monumental.
Oh wow, Breaking Points just put up the Georgia map, and John Ossoff is slaying. My prediction: 2028 John Ossoff for president.
side note: I'm not dealing with proof-reading this... I still have scars from midterm grading... As is obvious, my thoughts are all over the place tonight, and it's okay.













