GOOD BYE, SUZANNE: SAFE JOURNEY HOME

We blog to make connection,

don't we? At least I do. And one of those connections has been with She-Who-Makes-the-Pies herself, Suzanne from susannagig jig.

Suzanne was in Chicago over the weekend to visit her son and daughter-in-law and grand-daughter; and she visited Br Tom from br tom's journal blug, which I also read; and she visited Fairwater. She arrived about 12:30 p.m. yesterday; she left about 12:30 p.m. today.

Yesterday afternoon Suzanne and I made the drive to rural Barneveld where she had lived for some years, one of the signal places in her life. She had to leave that home she loved because the house there burned down. We walked up the long drive to where the house had been, and I thought: "No, no, I shouldn't be here for this encounter." But Suzanne was fine with having company as she stepped back onto that sacred ground. Here was her son's big tree house, crashed to earth now that the tree which held it has split and fallen. And there, there was the foundation of the house where the family had lived. A tree was growing straight and tall in the middle of what had been the living room. Mother Nature was taking back that hilltop.

The drive to and from Barneveld took about half an hour longer than I'd expected, so we were a little late arriving home for supper. When we pulled in the driveway Mary already had the Spicy African Stew I'd made on Monday warming in the oven, she'd prepared a wonderful salad, and she stepped out of the house to greet us. We set the table and set the food on the table and set to talking til MIDNIGHT.

Let me tell you, talking with Suzanne is like being struck by lightning. Not once but again and again. She's plugged directly into the juice of the universe, I think. By midnight I had to say "No Mas;" I had to get some sleep.

In the morning Mary made buttermilk pancakes from scratch, and fried some bacon, and we had breakfast and talk. And we talked some more. And finally about 12:30 p.m. today Suzanne got everything loaded into the car, checked her directions out of Wisconsin, and headed for home, well east of here, more than a one-day drive.

Suzanne, it was wonderful to have you visit us. It was an electric jolt, a little like touching God's finger. It was nice, finally, to meet you in person.

Have a safe journey home.

Comments

[suzanne]

O thank you Tom

for anyone who hasn;t figured it out
Tom is a fantastic human being
and LAAAAAAAAAAAAA
MARY
also FANTASTIC!!!
(and the cats)

I'll have much more to say
about Tom and Mary
and this visit
and on and on and on and on
over at my Gig
sometime tonight or tomorrow

I did
stop for the night
instead of doing the
1000 miles at one swig

I am just east of Toledo
as getting through Chicago
took two hours

I was calm cool
and in completely fine fettle
even with that

I read Kissing Poetry's Sister, Tom
in the car
while eating a strawberry sundae
at a rest stop

I'll have more to say about what it provoked in me
& I'll essay an essay
in my response to it____

[Dave]

Sounds like an epic talk-fest!

[Tom Montag]

So, Suzanne, you SEE why I cast Chicago out - two hours on the Skyway through the city. We had a terrific visit. I hope the rest of the journey was a safe one, and that you got off the go-road to meander a bit in your childhood.

[Tom Montag]

Dave, "epic talk-fest" only just begins to describe it!

[suzanne]

on the other hand
the sinister one
moving so slowly through Chicago
gave me the opportunity
to make good notes
for all the things I want
to write about
when I get home
if I hadn't been creeping
so slowly for those chicago miles
I wouldn't have made the notes
or
they would have been even less legible
than they are

and several tapestries
have graced my inner eyes

one long and narrow [the scroll];
a folding tripartate screen;

now I have a strong reason
for straightening out my fiber room
though I doubt it will be as orderly
as Mary's sewing room

at one point on the road yesterday
drowning in green
and plowed fields
I remember thinking
"Toto we aren't in Iceland any more"
what a difference in the landscape
yes?
yes.

[Tom Montag]

So, Suzanne, for you and me both, Chicago has been "an occasion for art" - for you, giving you time to make notes of work you want to do; for me, getting me seething enough to pen "Chicago, Be Gone!"

I think Chicago is for us a reminder that life is what you make of it. If you've got broken eggs, make an omelet.

I hope the second part of the trip home proceeds smoothly too.

[suzanne]

and isn't that just the cat's pajamas!
that we have our different ways
of perceiving and
resurrecting

because I LOVE your Chicago, Be Gone poem!

I was thinking about it you know
when I crossed the line
into wisconsin coming to your house

I was thinking as I took the Wisconsin IT in
I could see how you'd want Chicago begoned
even all the splendid parts of it
to keep the scene
looking like it did in wisconsin____

you can see I'm having trouble
shutting down my computer
and getting back in the car
because I'm ready to write!

suzanna, the excessively over happied

[Tom Montag]

Go on, Suzanne, get going, move along now!

[maria]

Tom, Mary, and Suzanne ... thanks for sharing the good times with us. Maybe when I head to Wisconsin in July (and also later this year) I can drop by for some buttermilk pancakes myself... Or treat you to lunch or dinner in Madison?

[Tom Montag]

Yes, Maria, you will indeed be welcome for some buttermilk pancakes. And we may also do something in Madison as well, since Mary and I love any excuse to get down to State Street and find something interesting to eat.

Suzanne said she will give some thought to a return visit to Chicago, then Wisconsin, when you are here in July. Do you think the old boards of this house could stand that much energy at once? We even have two guest rooms when needed. It would be great to see the east-west conjunction here in the middle of the middle....