Wild Child
My neighbour gave me a Krispy Kreme as we hopped of the bus and walked home. “I love the smell of this place,” he said as he looked up at the trees.
“…Especially after the rain,” I agreed.
But it’s no Vermont. Yes, if it’s possible, I am very homesick for a place I’ve never been. Sehnsucht, as it’s known to the Germans. I am sehnsucht-ting for Vermont.
One day, I shall have my little cabin and fly fish by a stream. I’ll own work boots and a beekeper’s outfit. Surrounded by trees. Smoke snaking out of the chimney. To the side of the house, lavender. We’ll have an outdoor tub and a glasshouse where I’ll grow exotic flowers like my grandfather did. An enterprising man, his gig on the side was his orchid farm. Every species. On the other side of what was originally their vacation home, in its heyday, carp and crocodiles were bred for their precious skins (haven’t told anyone at work that. It’s not something you open with). Now, it’s nothing but a huge dilapidated open-air villa with a massive weed-filled pond… definitely bigger than a few houses put together… and a crumbling pavillion right smack in the middle of it. A shame, really. Even the wooden boards that take us from land out to this pavillion have rotted away. We collected turtles. It’s so fabulous in a The Land Time Forgot kinda way. Great Expectations character, Nora Driggers Dinsmoor would have loved it. Or at least, the Driggers Dinsmoor of director, Alphonso Cuaron’s imagination.
He and I share one common obsession: a love for all things green. I noticed that all his movies contained layers of green. Green on green. Green-gone-black. Bottle green. Mint. Grass. Granny Smith. Seafoam aqua. Green in all textures. The most healing colour. Anyway I digress.
My wood cabin may sound like a living hell to some of my urbanite insect-hating friends. But the very idea of making tea on the stove, with a cable-knit beanie on my head and a blanket round my shoulders fills me with warmth. Blue skies, mountain air.
If you visited me, these are the songs I’d recommend you play on the drive over:
I’m On Fire – John Mayer
This World Ain’t Got Nothin’ – Brett Delar
To Whom It May Concern – The Civil Wars
To Build a Home – The Cinematic Orchestra
Fires – David Ramirez
Morning Lady – Gregory Alan Isakov
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