Travel from North to South

Heat, holiday, bright light, back in the city, walk to a bookstore, buy an art book for under twenty dollars. Come home. Sit on the balcony. Fall asleep. The woman upstairs rings the bell and asks if I would carry her recyclables bucket down to the curb. I go back to sleep, wake up, make a coffee, sit on the balcony, feel groggy and dazed, alone, city retreat, relax, no problem, don’t worry.
Slowly unpack the suitcase. Hang shirts in the closet. Place electronic devices on a spare bed, cords, cameras, flash, extra lens, chargers, external hard drive. Keep those things organized.

Musty from heat and humidity, cat hormone, mildew, rot, wood swells up, the house smells like a sick room, like an old man whose diaper needs changing, heavy rain, thunder, lightning, strong wind, power outage. Sleep, slowly return to life after the shock of crashing headlong into heat of the big city. Michael Jackon died last night in L.A.

It takes a few days to recover. It's hard on the mind and body, going from the cool north to the hot south, from space and simplicity to congestion and noise. It's absolutely fascinating, all part of the experiment to see what happens when you live. Even the loneliness is vivid and picturesque. Wander the streets of Montreal in a daze, like a space alien. It's worth a try.