itsallovernow | May. 9th, 2003

( You Can Sleep When Your Dead )

I'm reading War for the Oaks by Emma Bull right now, and it's proving to be a bit tricky. I'm very much enjoying the story and the writing, but I keep getting distracted by the setting. I lived in St. Paul for four years and we spent most of our free time in Minneapolis, a city I feel nothing but love for, cold not withstanding. And it can be miserably, horrifically cold, there is no denying that. It's one of the reasons I live in CA now instead of MN, which would have been a semi-logical place to return to after I fled the archaeologists.

Every time the author mentions a restauarant, a bar or club or street, I'm caught in a wave of nostalgia and it stops me in my tracks. It's therefore taking me frelling forever to get through this book which is actually a quick read. Having never thought of Minneapolis as particularly unearthly, it also makes me stop and reevaluate.

Except, I know that spring is enchanted. When winter finally releases it's hold, when you can see green grass and flowering trees, and blue sky it is unearthly. Every winter it seems like it's going to last forever, and then one day, it's just over - this usually means that the city is in for at least one more snow storm, but at least hope has returned. Sometimes, spring doesn't actually arrive until mid-June and then swoops into the awfulness of summer with it's heat and stickiness and mosquitoeness. But spring really is remarkable. Large bodies of grass seem to be growing pale limbs and sun hats as the population sprawls across parks and lawns, soaking up the Vitamin A that their bodeis are so depleted of. People are happy again, they talk to each other, laughing and letting go of their resentments.

First Ave. and the Seventh Street Entry remain some of my favorite places to see live music, and I have indeed eaten at the New Riverside Cafe. I know the bands she refers to and the feel of being downtown at midnight, seeing the city throb with life. I'm going to have to go back and read the book again for it's content, though. I'm definitely reveling in the scenery a little too much.