The very old 14th-18th century buildings are smack up against modern buildings. Everything is squished together. Most of the buildings are brick; various kinds of brick everywhere of different eras and a lovely range of browns and umbers and reds. Streets are brick and stone, very uneven. I find i must watch my step a lot.
Jimbo had his new shoes on yesterday and we headed off for our first walk and he stepped in a big pile of dog shit.. He was really upset and traumatized. now he won't walk where there are leaves.There are leaves everywhere. This causes some funny looking cautious walking.
LIKE THIS: (click on the photo to see more)
 |
| From Amsterdam |
The trams go everywhere, as do the bike paths and cars. There are also buses. The different forms of transportation work well together. It is very relaxed. No accidents yet. It is mind boggling to me that the majority of people ride bikes, there are bike lanes everywhere and the bikes and cars are not at odds at all! It just is. In America there is such adversarial energy between bikes and cars.
Jim and I were exhausted after the not sleeping for 9-10 hours in a cramped plane. Still we wanted to g o out. We took showers and changed and found our way to the Joordan district. We found the PINK POINT info place, it turned out to be a little Kiosk building on the grounds of the WesterKirk ( big church). The pink point has all the free gay literature and souvenirs. What cracks me up is they have a whole bunch of stickers and postcards that are from Ephemera Press in Phoenix Oregon. I recognize the merchandise from when i owned my Baba Yaga's Dream coffeehouse in 1993-1995.
The biggest thrill though was seeing flyers with my name on it advertising my class for the Wild Side this Saturday. I think I actually Squealed, "Hey Jimbo look at this!" I grabbed a bunch to bring back for my friends. There was a lovely lesbian woman from New York who was a member of the Lesbian Sex Mafia ( no kidding a real and well known s&M dyke group). We talked for a few minutes and she asked me if I wanted to eat with her but Jim and i had just had lunch. She thought she might come too the class on Sat.
The homo monument was nearby: 3 sculptural pink triangles worked into the architecture of the walkway and a dock going into the canal. Geez, I thought it would just be a phallic object pointing at the sky. Hard to photograph it but I did my best. Saw the statue of Anne Frank but not the house. We agreed we could not handle it emotionally just then anyway. The last thing we saw before decided we were too tired and needed to go crash, was the Gay and lesbian center (COC) at 14 Rozenstraat. It looks like a great place to teach. large rooms. It was closed but the lobby was open and a woman who was just locking up chatted for a while. Two triptych paintings on the outside wall representing 3 women and three men, all naked all, I believe supposed to be people at concentration camps. Oh yes, by the way, i hope everyone gets that the Homo monument is a tribute to all the gay and lesbian people who were killed in the concentration camps. Right? Did you know that they were made to wear pink triangles on the outside of their clothes, the same visual sign of oppression that was used as yellow stars to mark Jewish people. SO that's why the homo monument is made of pink marble.
Just now I am typing from my room in the houseboat. About 6ft' of the room is under water. Then there is a little skylight that opens up onto the deck above. The skylight is about 6inches wide by 18 inches long. It opens. A boat just tugged by and It sounds intriguing. A new sound I am not used to but can easily identify. The houseboat is lovely.
It is very comfortable. The spiral staircase that connects three floors is made of a lovely old hardwood. We get the bottom floor which is the bedroom a hallway with a clothes closet and a really wonderful bathroom. The bathroom is white tile and the shower is open slate and tile with no glass doors. The shower head has a button so you can have super hot water. The shower head also is on a move able rod and can be held in your hand. I want a shower head like that cause it is really easy to wash "girl bits". Excellent for other "good clean fun" too (wink wink nudge nudge). Upstairs just inside the front door is a great little living room/kitchen on the main floor. The living room/kitchen looks out on the water. The water moves very quickly and throws a constantly rippling stream of light on the walls.
When we arrived yesterday around 10:30am after a harrowing taxi cab ride ( the guy went 70 km most of the way and cut off a lot of other drivers!), Ben greeted us on a main street and lead the way down a narrow walkway. The walkway is Jaagplan Lane. It is like a walkway in a park, covered on all sides by plants that make an archway over the path. Lovely blown and fallen leaves everywhere. Familiar plants of all varieties like Birch trees and Pampas Grass. Lovely flowers and flowering vines. We are about the 7th houseboat down the path. I like the way our houseboat looks the best. Jimbo was disappointed that the houseboat is not ours alone. I like living in part of some one else's house. It is like a bed and breakfast. Ben showed us the upstairs part where he lives. His partner Hans is gone just now,( I think he said Hans is in Tunisia! ? !).
Ben is Catholic and has these lovely authentic old hand painted statues of the Madonna and child and different saints. There is a Saint Francis statue in our hallway/. These statues remind me of my grandmother and I feel safe when i see them . I recognize them and feel that they recognize me. Did you know that the word numen which is the root of numinous means "To nod towards"?. Numinous is a word people use to describe an event or object that is full of "god energy". I like the idea that a word for describing the sacred means to be nodded at or recognized. To me this is about accepting the sacred as an ordinary thing, a spiritual essence that lives in everything (anima as in animism) and only needs the brief acknowledgment of a nod to be so. Like "Oh yes, of course we are all Holy" and a little wink is all we need to affirm this truth.
No comments:
Post a Comment