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What she'd like to do is sit down in her little striped beach chair, late, late afternoon by berylline ocean waters and watch pools of frothy tide swish to and fro the shore, as it happens, until the amber sun fades into the sea's violaceous horizon, and the sky illuminates with the shimmery light of this Friday's milky floret of a moon.
The full moon calls.
But that scene is an hour away, and driving is still somewhat restricted (perils of pain medication), so she is here at home, late afternoon, trying to forge a Frolic, feeling anxious and overwhelmed and wanting to be by the beach. She's not happy.
The large framed second story east facing window will have to do. From there, she can almost pluck a low moon from the dark sky.
And then she reads this, from Jan Spiller (whom she's never consulted):
There is an opportunity for insight and progress inherent in the FULL MOON. People often react emotionally during the days of the Full Moon due to a feeling of helplessness. They become aware of the distance between the way they want their life to be, and the way it currently is. Often, when they see this gap, they become upset.Haha, she says, laughing like a madwoman. It's not my ailments, it's the moon!
She pulls the liner notes from Building a Road by Spottiswoode and His Enemies and sips on her damn green tea. There will be no wine tonight. But there will be the full moon. (Unless she fails to finish this Frolic.)
There are no liner notes, really, just perfunctory thank yous and lists of Special Friends and Archenemies, and one Bete Noire. She cannot imagine that Spottiswoode, the frontman, guitarist and harp player for his rock and soul and cabaret avant garde band—who reminds her of a young Leonard Cohen (with whom she has frolicked) and Harry Nilsson (with whom she'd like to frolic, lime in de coconut and all)—would have adversaries.
Yet Spottiswoode is drawn to the dark, where foes lurk.
And it is under Stygian skies that she finds a few specters Building a Road:
(She is frustrated that she does not know how to build an MP3 sample.)
And others, far from the Road, at play, building scenes like this:
And this:
And then she flips through the Farmers' Almanac to find that today is the beginning of some of the best days of the year:
According to Farmers' Almanac tradition, when the moon is in the appropriate phase and place in the zodiac, it's widely believed that activities will be more fruitful or lead to improved results. The period between the new and full moon (first and second quarters) is considered as the best time to perform tasks that require strength, fertility and growth...Who knew! Perhaps it's not all bad, she thinks. Surely there's something that can be done here in the burbs. Ah, a tall iced tea, chilled cherries, the setting sun from the west facing dappled deck accompanied by Spottiswoode. And a stroll down the street. That'll do. Who knows where it may lead...
(Maybe she'll find more goblins along the road. Maybe she will conquer some demons.)
* * *
You can find Spottiswoode's whole show, starting with scene 1, Live @ Joe's Pub in New York City here.His latest album is Wild Goosechase Expedition, about the doomed course of a touring rock band. The second track is Beautiful Monday:
Beautiful music.
