I had a wonderful vacation home to Minnesota, and now it's time for back to school for the kids here - and back to real life for me. I'm still in Minnesota, but the chill part must come to an end as I figure out what I'm going to do next in my crazy life.
Minnesota has been fully showing off, with absolutely perfect weather every day, and all the most fun things happening around this time of the year as the good NICE people of Minnesota try to cram in as much Summertime as they can. It's funny, it's the day after Labor Day, and it's like the state knows it. It's instantly about 20 degrees colder, and you can tell people are already beginning to think about hunkering down for the long winter.
It's been a little strange being here and watching the scorching heat wave and wildfire news coming out of L.A. I mean, Venice almost never gets HOT, and I've seen all my friends back there freaking out about it. I currently have a sweater on, with a blanket on my lap ... but the windows are open.
My roots, my family, and my hometown friend and favorite spots have all been making me feel so welcome and at home, that I'm actually feeling pretty torn as to where I really belong. After looking at a studio with a hot plate in Venice for $3,000 a month (!), super awesome Minneapolis pads for nowhere near that are starting to sound more interesting. But I've made Venice my home, it's super important to me, and I don't really know - I don't know! Anyone who would pay that much for a shithole apartment in Venice is an idiot ... and I don't fancy myself to be one.
There are so many cool things to do in and around Minnesota, just as there are in California. I was here for the State Fair this year, and it's truly the very best one around. The people watching alone!
The crafts, the food, the animals, the art ... it's all just so great. Everyone loves it, and is so happy to be there, you can feel it in the air. And it's been said many, many times, but the people are SO nice here (aside from murdering cops, but that's another story). Just checking out at a store can launch a brand new friendship - and often does.
There is so many good music and art shows that it really does rival L.A. In fact, I'm currently torn between watching some bands here or there - as better seats can often be had here. The Walker Art Center is top shelf, and I checked out the newly renovated sculpture garden during their Garden Party with my Mom, and it was great - in fact, every precious moment I get to spend with my beloved Mother is great, and that's a big part of it too. When you're away a while ... you can tell that time is passing too quickly. And that time is increasingly precious. My love swells, and I can't imagine leaving. And then I can't imagine not ...
The Jimmie Durham exhibit inside the Walker was fantastic. What a cool artist that I didn't know of before! Very witty, very insightful, very cool.
As was the interactive exhibit by Teamlabs that let you color your own art, scan it, and immerse yourself in it as it bloomed all around you in a dark room. Frrrresh.
The natural beauty is art unto itself in Minnesota, and it's everywhere you look. 11, 842 lakes beckon you every day, and you can't go very far without falling into one of them in your path.
My dearest friends are big boaters, and I've spent a bunch of time the last couple of weeks on both the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers ... and at this spot where the two meet. The Mississippi mud makes it very clear which one is which!
I spent my birthday on the Mississippi too, clinking glasses with dear friends from high school, college, and from my time in Hawai'i, and when I looked around at their wonderful faces, my heart felt full. Well, almost full, as my Venice/L.A. friends weren't there, and I've spent nearly half my life there now too. Where do I belong?! I'm thinking maybe both ... !
So now it's the Tuesday after Labor Day ... the freelance job I was going to rush back this week to start has been pushed once again. I don't have a new place yet in Venice (again, not willing to shell out 3 G's a month for basically a storage space to live in!), so there's really no rush to get back ... other than that I miss it and as of today I'm already freezing here in the North Star State.
I've spent a lot of time in my life thinking in the woods at Wood Lake Nature Center. It always helps me, calms me down, makes me feel better, and I'm so grateful for this wonderful resource of nature right in the middle of my hometown of Richfield. It's exquisite, and the place where I get a lot of my best ideas. It will likely provide me with the answers I'm searching for within this story, and within myself.
A gentle rain has just started up, and I can hear a little roll of thunder in the distance, as well as a train horn further off. The high school marching band was practicing earlier and I could hear their instruments in the wind, and a massive wave of nostalgia nearly made me cry. Then I saw some Venice photos on social media, with all those friends having a blast over Labor Day weekend, and I felt extra left out. I've gotta figure this out. Thank you for your patience and support, and your love and friendship, as I navigate a very unsettled and strange time in my life, though it's also one that is very liberated and wide open and possibly exciting. I've been thinking, we only get one turn in this body, maybe it's time to live somewhere foreign? Be a Dreamer somewhere else? Why not? This planet only has so much time left, if we're being honest, so maybe live nowhere and just check it all out? Or explore SPACE!!! Lots of thinking, I tell you what.
I promise, I will always continue to be your very own Pueblo style storyteller Kachina doll, wherever I may be. But Venice ... I sure hope I'm back with you very soon!
Love.
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