7.30.06

things have been social. it's unprecedented. part of me is anticipating sadness at entering another round of not seeing anyone, but more of me is comfortable (if not overly happy) with this being the state of things.

the deviation, though, was enjoyed. wednesday clayton came over for dinner at the cosmopolitan hour of eight. it was satisfying to see his wiry, sculpted self. same skinny black pants, different thin, ivory cotton button-down shirt and greased back hair. curved talons of earrings, maybe small gauges. i made a spinach salad with pine nuts and sunflower seeds, mushroom cutlets, and garlic bread. we drank apple wine and had mangos, chocolate-filled ladyfingers, and scotch for dessert. my kind of social, my kind of intensity.

thursday d and i met up in freeport after work with the dual objectives of a camping cot for me and acceptable work clothes for her. we had silly times, making the night of the eighteen year old waiter at the corsican. we lingered in the gravel parking lot behind the pharmacy, talking about the future and feeling soft, summer night air on our arms.

whitney came up from boston after work on friday. she didn't immediately recognize me when i came into the train station to pick her up due to a combination of her fatigue and my new haircut (the next day she didn't recognize me in the middle of a store; apparently, i look very different these days). we walked down to flatbread in the rain, my broken umbrella periodically dumping cold water down my neck. toes soaked in city street water, we made it in. the rest of the weekend was spent eating out, eating in, drinking frivolous forms of alcohol, watching sex and the city, and talking slowly to match the heat. whit walks at aloha speed, the perfect hot summertime moseying companion.

i was happy to be able to give her a clean, comfortable place to sleep. my living space was her respite from boston, a place she's deciding she strongly dislikes. everyday it's clearer and clearer that, at least for now, i'm living in the right place.

we drank gin and tonics with little round half spheres of key lime. her accent, thick, hot air on saturday. summer.

today, we sat on the slope of the prom in the shade of old oak trees, grass making sharp indents on our ankles, cool air blowing in off the ocean. i pointed out what eric showed me weeks ago: that if you walk to the end of my street and look straight ahead, you can see the faint, hazy line of the brunswick/harpswell coast in the distance.

clayton observed that these days, one feels like a skipping stone, riccocheting from weekend to weekend. light-speed. it's not the best situation, but it could be worse. i enjoy most of the small pieces of each day.

now i'd just like to find someone willing to spend money with me in this food-fabulous city.