Dreaming the World

A cool, milky sky day. There’s a stiff breeze out of the south, bringing in warmer temperatures and the threat of a passing very brief shower. By Indigenous Day we should receive some rain from the remnants of this season’s lone hurricane.

The sun has moved quite far south in the time we’ve been here, subtly, so that the light suddenly hitting our north facing walls comes as a surprise. A few minutes ago this room was brightly lit, the walls almost dazzled by the sunlight passing at an angle through my east window and striking the north wall. Now the sky is increasingly overcast and the room has turned much less inviting. Time to turn on the lights.

Speaking of turning things on: we have finally turned the heat on throughout the house. This has occurred one zone at a time, culminating in Nori The Cat informing us that she was too cold to enjoy her favorite spot in the living room, and the subsequent activation of that thermostat. The house seems to hold heat well which, given fuel prices, is a relief. We are aware that not all are so lucky.

With the arrival of cooler weather we find ourselves craving more carbs, snacking on more cookies and making more frequent trips to the bakeries. Sunday, Jennie made delicious scones of which there were three left over, were frozen, and now beckon to me from the kitchen. Nori seems always hungry, a massive turn from her mid-summer habit of leaving food for us to pick up.

We find ourselves needing to place medication in Nori’s ears, much to her disapproval. This task generally falls to Jennie, as getting to Nori’s ears is a significant challenge for me. The upshot is that Jennie ends up being the bad housemate and her relationship with Nori becomes a bit strained. As a result I will try to take on some of that task, and become more strategic in my attempts to deliver the meds to their required location.

The ongoing construction across the street at the community center seems to be on hold this morning, the silence welcomed. There are crew wondering around in bright yellow vests so the relative silence may not last long. It seems everyone is working to reduce the amount of water that gets into our basements during the ever more frequent torrential rains.

I’ve been trying to regain a structured practice in both studios, so far very much focused on sound and writing. For the first time in ages I’m beginning to have ideas for visual work as well. Still, actually getting into the art studio with any consistency seems a ways away.

Speaking of sound work: one can make almost any sound one can imagine using electronic instruments, but one genre in which they truly excel is in the creation of the eerie, spooking, and disconcerting. October is their month to shine as the demand for such compositions increases steadily throughout the month, cresting at Halloween. Just listen to the soundtrack of whatever horror show meets your fancy. I’m sure more and more of those tracks are AI generated which is too bad for many reasons, perhaps most so because making disconcerting soundscapes is just great fun!