Far away from these winter streets
Well, my summer is over with a bang and a strong gust. The wind outside has a wicked bite to it that chills down to the skin as if my layers weren’t even there. I don’t mind letting this gorgeous, whole summer slip off into memory — it was a good one, a summer where I grew my first (thriving) garden, spent time down in the rich damp soil with the crickets chirping around me at sunset, while I could often hear the bells from the college chapel tolling a reminder of where in the evening hours we found ourselves. It was a summer where I got back the gift of quiet contentment in the late, warm nights.
I read several wonderfully rich books over the summer as well, sometimes sitting out on my back porch with my feet on the railing while my kiddo ran and played with the other little people in our neighborhood, blazing past as a whir of lanky legs, bare feet, and often a collection of eew-inducingly-large bugs in his bug carrier. The two books I completed on the porch in these summer months that will stick with me are Eat, Pray, Love
I can smell smoke in the air tonight from a neighbor’s wood fire, out somewhere in this old neighborhood. I wrap the dense warmth of this sweater around me, and listen to this Marah song that has felt like a constant anthem of my last few winters. It’s a song with some thoughtful sadness in it, but also a solitude, a strength, and that wistfully warm harmonica that cuts through it and makes me think of driving over Highway 17 in California, towards the ocean on a clear October day.
Walt Whitman Bridge – Marah
Far away from these winter streets
On a cloudless day
Your memory, your memory
Your memory blows away from me…
[top image, Gustave Caillebotte]
Name: Heather Browne
That was beautiful, thank you.
Mike — September 23, 2009 @ 3:51 pm
gotta love the marah. you know how to pick ‘em. if you haven’t, check out serge bielanko(of marah)’s blog @ http://www.thunderpie.net. that man can write like nobody’s business.
Michael McCarty — September 23, 2009 @ 4:41 pm
“Walt Whitman Bridge” is such an amazing song. I think Marah are so wonderfully talented, and this song is just as you described – just changed Highway 17 in Cali to empty cornfields and country roads in Indiana, and you’ll be in my neck of the woods
Dustin — September 23, 2009 @ 5:43 pm
Great song.Love the harmonica.
Nathan House — September 24, 2009 @ 5:25 am
I’ve dug that song since the first time I heard it ’05. I recently dug out an old mix it was on after not hearing it in a couple years. Still a great song
tom — September 24, 2009 @ 8:31 am
my fav marah song of all, constantly winding up on playlists and mix cd’s (yes i still make them)
ajs — September 24, 2009 @ 2:07 pm
It is a great season-changing song. I’m also going to check out the book rec.’s. Thanks
spookycat — September 24, 2009 @ 2:46 pm
Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy this site (a friend recently
recommended it)….a great place/space for a tried and true music fan.
Thanks.
Mary — September 24, 2009 @ 4:53 pm
When on earth do you find time to garden and read? Heather, you must never sleep!
ruralgurl — September 25, 2009 @ 5:48 pm
Thank you! Such perfect timing on this one…
Ed — September 28, 2009 @ 1:09 pm
Marah is coming to the Walnut Room next month.
julio — September 28, 2009 @ 5:11 pm
oh, i shall gigbot the matter. thanks, julio!
browneheather — September 28, 2009 @ 8:01 pm
ps – did you see how I did that? I made it a verb.
browneheather — September 28, 2009 @ 8:01 pm
eat, pray, love is a wonderfully inspiring book, but i have to stay the author’s last name is gilbert not mitchell.
cate — September 30, 2009 @ 6:39 pm
cate! i’m retarded! do you know who elizabeth mitchell is? Juliet on LOST. LoST is taking over my BRAIN.
thanks so much for the catch. i KNEW that!!!
browneheather — September 30, 2009 @ 11:21 pm
no problem!! your blog is my bible….thank you!!
cate — October 4, 2009 @ 8:13 am