From an E-mail at Night

I've been slowly trying to settle into this teeny tiny - and, for one more day, empty - apartment with Langston. The change in landscape is stunning, though I must admit I'm having a bit of culture shock. I really had no idea how much I'd become familiar with in Chicago in terms of geography and resources. Here, I scribble out directions and grip them to the wheel of the car as I try to focus on not missing a turn, all the while being distracted constantly by the road's metamorphosis into a little strip of land traversing some sparkling expanse of water. *

It's so different, and yet there are plenty of familiar things (Dunkin Donuts drive through windows, where I always scrape my hubcaps, trying to be as close to the window as possible so they don't have to reach out too far to give me my coffee.) My apartment is small, the hallways as musty as I thought they might be. It's a pretty much low-income apartment complex, which to me means lots of pick-up trucks and dudes who smoke cigarettes on their balconies. Not to worry, though, my daydreams have now turned to saving up to buy a little house someday in the next few years.

P.S. There are stars here, and crickets! When you pull out of N., there's a cemetery and a golf course. The other morning, I drove out to the supermarket and there was this thick, beautiful mist covering them both everywhere.

*On water: I'm really surprised by my reaction to how water just appears everywhere. Every drive seems to traverse roads on bridges. One second, you're cruising along a little local highway, and then, in an instant, you're on a strip of land. Water, swampy or clear shimmers on each side. I know we're right by the ocean, but my memories of the ocean are that you drive there, and it's all beach and surf and sand and sunburn. Here, it's like the ocean is sneaking in (or out) prettily, like a courtesan heading down the service elevator. It's all , "Oh, you were looking for the shopping center? Well, you found me instead. And aren't I just beautiful? Whoops! You missed your turn..."