The weather’s been whipsawing betwixt beautiful and dismal – or at least dismal for driving. Heather and I are driving another 3 hours west today and I’d just as soon not be doing it in the clutches of vicious southern thunderstorms. Last night at around 3am they struck with a vengeance, rattling the house and ripping through the trees out back.
Flashes of lightning strobing through the blinds and Dave Simmsitizing the world, either they or I faded out by dawn and I slept fitfully till thunder woke me again at around 10am. But by now it’s clear and beautiful again. The pines are swaying to the strong winds that are whipping this weather to and fro. Weather moves FAST down here.
I’ve been having nightmares ever since we’ve been in North Carolina. I doubt the two are related as I don’t see how NC would make me feel like I’m trapped and smothering. Probably more a factor of still getting this gunk out of my lungs, but I’ve been dreaming about being caged underwater, turning back and forth, thrashing – caught in a long plastic tube of some sort. I keep waking up with a start with my heart pounding – I rarely sleep under blankets anymore, but every time I wake I’ve managed to tie them around my waist and around my ankles. Needless to say, my hair’s a mess.
I’ll frequently have either sequential or repetitive nightmares. I know that if I’m caught in some sort of cycle like this it’ll probably last me a week or two and then vanish into whatever abysmal brain chasm it slunk out of, but in the meantime I’m feeling edgy and like there are THINGS lurking right on the corners of my vision. Going through the Natural History Museum was pretty wonderful – right up until I had to go through a long plastic tube through an underwater display of Pliocene monsters of the deep. I found myself shuddering and moving through swiftly and some stupid kid was doing that ultimate little dance where, no doubt with no intent, just HAPPENED to get in my way, and then trying to get OUT of my way go IN my way – the dance of the inept got me almost in a panic just shy of the exit to the display.
“Excuse me miss, could you please move your child the FUCK out of my way? I appear to be having a panic attack caused by being enclosed in a space with plastic models of animals that have been dead for hundreds of millions of years.” Sigh. My brain’s so fucking LIZARD.
After the museum we walked around Raleigh for a while, got delicious New Orleansian foods all up in us and then hunted for a place to play for the night. We checked out a couple of things and then eventually retreated to the house for movies and social time with Jamie and Barnaby and Hermione and Callie.
Last night we ended up at a small coffeehouse called Koinonia Coffee in Durham – and though it probably wasn’t actually any more populated than any of the other nights we’ve been to recently, there’s a LOT to be said for playing through a nice sound system. It was very satisfying to play and it felt good to stretch our fingers a bit. There were some cool bluegrass players there (one guy had an absolutely stunning Gibson 5-string banjo) and a friendly knot of regulars that made us feel welcome. There was Scrabble and dancing and a very good mocha and a CD sale or so – all in all a nice night and probably a place to return to.
The wind is whipping up again and I’m ashamed to say that even under clear blue skies and bright sunshine the movements and shadows are making me jump and my palms are sweating. Merf.
The Discovery Room at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. I LOVE the costumes. The kids’ room at the Maryland Science Center (where I worked in college) was NEVER this cool – though never this controlled, either. 
the new wing – they just had a grand opening this past Friday and the new space is very… Star Treik. It’s beautiful but is a better educational space than museum in certain ways – but OH what an educational space! Lots of hands on spaces, touch screens (and faux touch screens – very cleverly done), LEDs and LCDs – and the whole building is “green” to the point of having gardens on the roof!
