Return to the Wet Lands

Last night I felt like I was sleeping underwater, the air was so heavy with Damp. I tried turning on the heat to dry things out, but it just made it more of a steam bath. It's been raining off and on for the past 3 days, and when it's off the air is pregnant with the next rain to come, so everything feels wet all the time. I'm not used to this anymore! After 10 years in the Dry Heat of Tucson, my body is completely stymied by this sudden climate change. We've had beautiful, sunny, clear fall weather for the most part until this past weekend, so this is the first time I've had to confront the reality of Humidity in these parts. Mushrooms spawn prodigiously in our back yard; the scratched paint on our truck that survived a decade in the desert without a spot of rust is corroding feverishly after just a month in New England; laundry never dries. My lungs truly did not know how to function last night--I kept waking up coughing, trying to liberate my bronchii from the swamp that passed for air in the bedroom. Clearly one of our first purchases in the new house will be a dehumidifier!

In other news:

Last Tuesday James and I went down to Hartford, CT, to attend the kick-off concert of Bruce Springsteen's new tour. Musically speaking it was, shall we say, loose, as they were just starting to try out their set. But event-wise, it was not to be missed! At least if you're a Springsteen fan. I ended up in a crying jag partway through because we'd really been looking forward to this show--but our seats were just one row forward of the rear wall of the arena in the Acrophobia section behind a bulkhead housing the upper box seats, a big speaker blocked my view of Max Weinberg (the drummer and my favorite in the E Street Band), and seated directly in front of us were the Ritalin family who spent the entire entire time up and down and switching seats and generally making me want to kick them down all 33 rows. It would have been one thing if it were just the 2 kids acting up, but the parents were just as bad if not worse. So I had a frustration fit, which turned into a bout of grief over missing our bandmates in Tucson. Watching Bruce and Company cavorting around on stage, making great music and having a great time, brought to the surface all my sadness about no longer sharing that with Stranger. I'm singing in the church choir here at First Church in Pittsfield, but it's nowhere near the same thing! To any and all Strangerites reading this, you were my favorite part of life in Tucson and I miss you very much.

My job at JoAnn Fabrics and Crafts is going well--we survived the Great Columbus Day Sale and I'm enjoying a day off today before going back to the fray that will hopefully be less fray-ful than it was over the weekend. My employee discount card hasn't arrived yet, so I'm actually taking home my entire paycheck, which isn't much but it'll buy some groceries. And a dehumidifier. James is still inspiring increased attendance at church and is introducing the congregation to the 21st century a step at a time. So far, so good. Once we get into our own place and have our dog back with us and computer/internet access at home, life will be dandy dandy dandy. And I'll be able to keep this blog much more up to date!