trees and light and books
Oct. 23rd, 2009 07:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
enteleinI turned to my co workers today and said, "You know, it's sort of strange for me to see sunsets now. Before, when I was in the valley, the sun would to a certain level, and then ... it'd be dusk, and pretty quickly, night. Here, I get to see the late sun slanting in."
Yesterday or the day before I opened the blinds directly in front of my workstation so that I could see some trees and the way the light was hitting things, all golden and bright, the colors of things stunningly sharp and rich after L.A.
Honestly, I am not sure if it's smog or the weird bright blindingness of SoCal sunshine filtered through it that had me dazzled into monochrome until I landed back here in the land of muggy humidity. I think the desert-on-the-ocean atmosphere near the San Gabriels gave pretty much everything a bleached-out subdued palette, and now I am back in a place where there are trees and buildings more than a few stories high for dappled light and shadows. There is contrast and degrees, at the same time. The sky is blue, and the clouds are defined. I can see at a distance. There is no visible smog here in North Carolina.
After work, I took a short trip to see where the closer library branch is. I had mistakenly assumed that the one with my town name would be the closest one, but I also often forget that my apartment is really on the southwestern edges of Raleigh, and the immediate area rubs shoulders with a few other municipalities, so I am not central to the town's interests, except for the shopping centers right down the road from me. I like the branch I've been going to, but it'd be nice to know exactly how to get to the closer one when I want to drop off books or maybe schedule a book reserve pickup right by work.
It's actually a lovely little drive - passing right up through the Johnson Lake Park area, actually. The road curves gently right along the water, and the lake is currently ringed by all sorts of trees in various autumn colors, and I nearly swooned. It's really nice to be back in an area with seasonal foliage.
The branch appears to be inside of a school, and as it was a few minutes before closing, I decided against parking and hopping out to check it out. Maybe some other evening, when they're open later.
I try not to freak out that I am not in the middle of a thumping noisy rattly whooshing honking rumbling city environment anymore, like I was when I lived in Chicago, but there are pieces of where I live now that are just lush and pretty and feel untouched and free, and it does my heart a little bit of good to see it and appreciate it.
Yesterday or the day before I opened the blinds directly in front of my workstation so that I could see some trees and the way the light was hitting things, all golden and bright, the colors of things stunningly sharp and rich after L.A.
Honestly, I am not sure if it's smog or the weird bright blindingness of SoCal sunshine filtered through it that had me dazzled into monochrome until I landed back here in the land of muggy humidity. I think the desert-on-the-ocean atmosphere near the San Gabriels gave pretty much everything a bleached-out subdued palette, and now I am back in a place where there are trees and buildings more than a few stories high for dappled light and shadows. There is contrast and degrees, at the same time. The sky is blue, and the clouds are defined. I can see at a distance. There is no visible smog here in North Carolina.
After work, I took a short trip to see where the closer library branch is. I had mistakenly assumed that the one with my town name would be the closest one, but I also often forget that my apartment is really on the southwestern edges of Raleigh, and the immediate area rubs shoulders with a few other municipalities, so I am not central to the town's interests, except for the shopping centers right down the road from me. I like the branch I've been going to, but it'd be nice to know exactly how to get to the closer one when I want to drop off books or maybe schedule a book reserve pickup right by work.
It's actually a lovely little drive - passing right up through the Johnson Lake Park area, actually. The road curves gently right along the water, and the lake is currently ringed by all sorts of trees in various autumn colors, and I nearly swooned. It's really nice to be back in an area with seasonal foliage.
The branch appears to be inside of a school, and as it was a few minutes before closing, I decided against parking and hopping out to check it out. Maybe some other evening, when they're open later.
I try not to freak out that I am not in the middle of a thumping noisy rattly whooshing honking rumbling city environment anymore, like I was when I lived in Chicago, but there are pieces of where I live now that are just lush and pretty and feel untouched and free, and it does my heart a little bit of good to see it and appreciate it.
