Homesick sounds

This isn't New Land Road.
It's better, actually; it's the road from Batouri to Yaounde.

The ubiquitous "they" say that the sense of smell is one of the strongest connected to memories. When designing therapeutic gardens for Alzheimer patients, for example, landscape designers use plants that will be familiar to older adults--roses, rosemary, lavender, sweet peas--in an effort to trigger memory recall and renewal from events or knowledge somehow tied to those smells in our criss-crossed brains.

Looking up case studies and having actual, solid references would be a good thing for a graduate student to do, but at the moment i'm studying children and play: aromatic therapy gardens will have to wait. I believe "them", however; the scent of freshly cut grass reminds me of my dad mowing the lawn on Saturdays in Pennsylvania and getting all scratchy as i played in piles of freshly mowed grass, cardamom reminds me of Christmas (and now it reminds me of baking Christmas bread with contents of two Republic of Tea Cardamom Cinnamon sachets since i couldn't find cardamom anywhere in the market in Cameroon), violets remind me of my mother and of the funky plywood bathroom shelves in Cameroon where she kept a tiny vial of Yardley's Violet Perfume. I can see that when i smell violets and almost reach out to touch the maroon painted wood and the contact paper lining.

Personally, though, sounds trigger memories as much as scents. I hear a sound, and it takes me somewhere like a summons i cannot disobey. I never know what they are until i hear them--it's not like i can think up a sound memory or many others. For example, last week i ran into a former student--someone i did not remember until i saw her face, and then all these memories about student teaching flooded back. A bit disconcerting it was, and i don't want to know what else is in there.

Anyway, back to sounds. Lumpy railroad tracks intersected my route to work this afternoon, a different way due to an errand. Keys rattled against the steering column as my car wobbled slowly across (slowly because all the raised pick-ups ahead of me had slowed down). My keys rattled, clack cling clack, then silent again.

Cameroon: I heard that sound every time i got a ride to school or market or home. The road was full of deep ruts and cars wobbled slowly as they drove lest an axle be wrenched or a rock scrape the underbelly of the car. Last time i heard that sound was as a passenger, driving out on New Land Road toward the airport, to leave.

Oh, to be this brilliant

This evening some of the second and third year grads and one of the department's former profs met in Pomona to see James Turrell's Skyspace. I didn't go to the gallery with them earlier in the afternoon because i needed more alone time than the weekend afforded, but (after getting lost) i did arrive in time for the evening display.

I didn't take my camera.

I'm going back.

Learning to draw

This week was Modules Week at school. It's a bit like a working spring break. The department brings in emeritus profs and professionals from the community to share their expertise in one-week intense classes. I took drawing--drawing as a means of seeing landscape.

Once i upgrade the memory on my laptop, i'll upload a sketch to show what i learned this week. A long way to go until i'd want to display drawings to anyone, but my prof taught us (me) enough to recognize shadows and light, the shape of things, to remember perspective. I'm proud of my blind contour California poppies, and the gesture sketches of guest speakers. I think i'm still better at diagrams than at anything close to realistic, but Italy should cure that. ;-)

EDIT: Here is a page of the gesture sketches.
They're rough, but hopefully the action or stance of the person is readable. Few eyes because they always look angry when i draw eyes!

It feels like learning to drive: all those things to think of: rear view mirror, side mirror, space cushion ahead, scanning, shifting gears, watching for stale greens & pedestrians; and now driving is like breathing. Maybe, if i practice enough, drawing well will become like that and perspective, diminishing scale, detail, light, shadow, and contours will be more automatic.

On the other hand, i drive 300 sorry miles a week, and i don't think drawing time is going to come close!

I also learned: Collages are an effective way to create perspectives. Legs are really hard to draw. And do not inhale cobalt blue!