love is ‘strange’
I received small boxes of new greeting and note cards yesterday. I’ll be publicly sharing and promoting and rejoicing in and with them through the weekend. As I was leaving work at the library yesterday, Eddie (one of the librarians) stopped me to talk about “Rat Boy”, one of the stories included in “It’s Like This.” He was clear and effusive with his praise – not so much of that particular story as the quality of the writing throughout. What he said. It’s nice to hear nice things about an important piece of this life of mine.
I pointed out to Eddie that “Rat Boy” was lifted from my book “Astoria Strange”, and suggested he’d like it a lot. Then last night, just like that, I lifted a copy of “Astoria” from this small desk and sat in the recliner reading, completing “River Crawl” and moving part-way into “Texas Two-Step.” Astoria all over the place.
When I first moved to Portland, before I knew anyone, I drove myself the two hours out to Astoria and spent the day. Then again later a couple of nights in a bed and breakfast. Then again to that same B&B with my former wife. River walkway, ancient trolley, farmer’s market, famous column, and repeated coffees at the Blue Scorcher cafe. That place is in, I think, everyone of the 11 stories in “Astoria”, with an alias name, and it’s a place I had the joy, and honor as an artist, of hanging a bunch of my earlier paintings. In fact, I am moved right now to share a photo of back then.
The greeting and note cards which arrived yesterday are lots of new art – now art – and some of that older Astoria-time-art too.
