Chameleon: An Interactive Exploration
Part II -- Recounting Personal Details
or afterwards when we look back on them."
-- Karen von Blixen in Out of Africa
"I am blessed with good friends./... I'm alone but not lonely and that I will stay/ until my companion has found his home port."
-- joan harrison from the poem Who am i?, WNC Woman February 2008
"And just.../ Let her cry...if the tears fall down like rain/ Let her sing...if it eases all her pain/ Let her go...let her walk right out on me/
And if the sun comes up tomorrow/ Let her be...let her be."
-- Let Her Cry by Hootie and The Blowfish from the album Cracked Rear View
"A Gentile does not die, for he has never lived in order that he may die."
-- Gnostic Gospel of Philip (translation by Wesley W. Isenberg)
Over six decades and three years I, A Woman includes over 70 characters; 11 states (MA, ME, NY, FL, GA, NC, TN, CA, VA, IL, OH) with 41
living quarters, including four house ownerships (4-bedroom 2-story 1-bath plus partial basement yellow stucco off the James River, Richmond 1972-1979, built in 1901; 3-bedroom 2-story 1-bath plus full finished basement aquamarine asbestos siding near Balston Metro, Arlington 1978-1984, built in 1945; 3-bedroom 2-story 2-bath plus unfinished partial basement tan T111 paneled A-frame on the Shenandoah River's South Fork 1978-1998, built in 1972; 2-bedroom, 1-story 1-bath tan T111 paneling in Page Valley Estates 1994-present, built around 1960), one timeshare (2-story, 2-bedroom townhome in Canaan Valley WV, built around 1980), and two lots with rental campers (one acre riverfront Page County 1993-present, subdivided in 1972; five acre woodland Nelson County 1996-2004, subdivided in 1995) in Virginia remodelled and upgraded, all jointly owned except the A-frame; 19 other states (SC, MD, NH, VT, CN, RI, TX, MO, CO, WA, AL, KY, WV, PA, NJ, KS, AS, MI, WI)
plus the District of Columbia and Canada (Quebec, Montreal, Vancouver and some little towns on the northeast U.S. border) with 72 city/towns therein visited for at least one night; twelve parental homes (Los Angeles CA; West Newton, Newton Center(2), Brookline, Newton(2) MA; Bustins Island ME; Fort Lauderdale FL intracoastal(2) and oceanside; Manhattan NY); one nursery school and one kindergarten; one (Dana Hall, Wellesley) day and one (Cushing Academy, Ashburnham) boarding private schools; four public schools with accelerated classes and two foreign languages (French, also spoken at home occasionally, and Latin); two suspensions for breaking rules; one day and one boarding summer camps; one church choir membership (alto); lessons from and performances with the Boston Ballet Company and New England Conservatory of Music; one private home piano tutor; one solo television performance as a singer and pianist and several for private organizations; four years as a Camp Fire Girl; one private country club membership (Brae Burn, West Newton); 41 years (11-52) of clockwork, bloated ("Why do I have this watermelon sticking out in front of me?"), nauseous and nauseating, painful, cramping, heavy menses, sometimes regulated from a 26 to 28 day cycle by birth control pills, and four years (52-56) of disorienting, discomfitting menopause ("It isn't change of life, it's a power surge") with hot flashes, sleeplessness, sudden and uncontrolled sobbing, and clotted, unregulated flooding -- none of which were amenative to over-the-counter or prescription female medications; three universities (BU Boston MA, ETSU Johnson City TN, and VCU Richmond VA) with two majors (Anthropology/Sociology and Psychology) and one degree;
three nannies, four housekeepers, and four weekly Italian landscape gardeners; moderate to risky stock, mutual fund and money market investments (1964 to present) through brokerage companies in FL, VA, NY and IN, and savings/checking accounts (MA-TN, 1950 to present); abundant credit cards (1965 to present) from local stores to Sears to American Express to Discover, three VA mortgages, and excellent credit ratings; most varieties of American, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Thai, German, Etheopian, Indian, French, English, Hawaiian, Vietnamese, Spanish, Mexican, Austrian, Jewish, vegetarian, Swedish, Irish, and Cajun goumet cooking and restaurants; refinishing furniture and household woodwork; knitting, sewing, needlepoint, crewelwork, and other fiber crafts; three medically treated and cured STDs [Chlamydia (Gr. χλαμύδος), gonorrhea, phthirus pubis]; one automobile parking and two speeding tickets, and one fender-bender accident; one non-medical abortion (induced miscarriage, 1962) and seven years (1963-1970) of prescription birth control; seventeen years of being a hippie("Do your own thing, wherever you have to do it and whenever you want. Drop out. Leave society as you have known it. Leave it utterly. Blow the mind of every straight person you can reach. Turn them on, if not to drugs, then to beauty, love, honesty, fun."[Time Magazine])/yippie/yuppie; three marriages (to an Ohio-born Physical Education major for four years, a DC-born sociologist/statistician for 15 years, and a backcountry Appalachian native for 15 years) and divorces, and other intimate relationships; three years of being a full-time housewife; one professional psychological smoking cessation program participation; minor self-mutilation (cigarette burns and carved crosses);
forty years of drug use (menthol and straight, filtered and unfiltered, kings and 100s cigarettes; cigars; most varieties of wines, liqueurs, and alcohols; marijuana in "reefers," pipes, bongs and brownies; hash; marigold [calendula] seeds; "speed" in pills and capsules; LSD in pills and on paper; mescaline and peyote in capsules; cocaine in "lines"; Valium; Talwin and other pain killers), and three addictions (nicotine, amphetamines, and synthetic morphines) and withdrawals; four psychiatric therapy interludes (DC, and Richmond, Staunton, and Luray VA); one cruise (from Vancouver BC through Alaska's Inland Passage), several long-distance train (CA-MA; MA-NY; DC-NY; TN-DC; FL-DC; MA-CD) and bus (NC-MA; MA-FL; VA-FL) excursions, extensive airplane travel (TN-WA; GA-CD; MA-NY; NY-FL; TN-NY; DC-CA; DC-TX; DC-FL; DC-AL; DC-OH; DC-IL; DC-MO; DC-MA; VA-FLA; MD-FL; TN-FL; MA-FL; DC-MI) since childhood, and locomotion by streetcars, metrorails, limousines, horse-and-buggies, sleighs, hay wagons, rumble seats, motorboats, rowboats, sailboats, local buses, yachts ("a hole in the water you sink your money into"), ferries, subways, taxis, bicycles, four-wheelers, tractor, street and dirt bikes, automobiles (American and foreign sports cars, convertibles and coupes), bumper cars, ferris wheels, roller coasters, carousels, motion platforms, houses of mirrors, other amusement park rides, hitchhiking, and walking; serving as a volunteer for six organizations in four city/town/states [SPCC (MA), SA (VA), JM (TN), EAG (TN), IMF(TN), JL (TN)]; one honor society membership (Phi Kappa Phi "Let the love of learning rule humanity") and invitation to join Mensa test-free, along with other IQ-related awards and achievements (e.g. scoring in the 99th percentile on GRE language tests and 76th in math); visits to, among others (and without listing diversely multitudinous restaurants, cafes, diners, coffee houses, bars and cocktail lounges throughout); [MA] Boston Pops, Boston Symphony, Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Barnum & Bailey Circuses, organ grinders with pet monkeys on Beacon Street, Boston Commons and Public Gardens with the lake's swan and paddle boats, Cambridge, Charles River, Filene's, Schrafft's Tearoom, The [Italian] North End, The Parker House, Rockport, Plymouth Rock, Cape Cod, Nantucket Island, Martha's Vineyard, Hyannis, Hyannisport; [ME] Kennebunkport's The Nonantum Resort, Casco Bay's Chebeague Island; [Canada] Quebec's St. Lawrence Seaway, Montreal's Little People's House, Vancouver BC's snow-topped mountain-surrounded and boat-filled bay; [AK] isolated and sparsely habitated islands within the Inland Passage, orcas curving and diving, small towns along the coast; [NY] The Empire State Building, The Bronx Zoo and Botanical Garden, Richard Burton in "Hamlet," "A Chorus Line" and "Hair," with my best friend then and since, on Broadway, "The Fantastiks" off-Broadway, Grand Central and Union Stations, The Trade Center Twin Towers, Harlem, Greenwich Village East and West, Carnegie Restaurant, 1964 World's Fair, Broadway theatres and nightclubs, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York Public Library, The Waldorf-Astoria, Wall Street, Central Park, Rainbow Room and Grill in the GE Building, Tavern-On-The-Green, Fillmore East, New York Philharmic Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Metropolitan Museum, The Guggenheim, Holland Tunnel, Radio City Music Hall, Museum of Modern Art, United Nations Building including the "Delegates Only" rooms, The Brooklyn Zoo, The Brooklyn Bridge, Staten Island Ferry and Staten Island, The Barbizon Plaza, Rockefeller Center, Tiffany's, Pierpont Morgan Library, Playboy and Gaslight Clubs, The Plaza, Saks Fifth Avenue, Altman's, Macy's, Lincoln Center, Holland Tunnel, poetry readings, and foreign films; Woodstock (not the Festival); Long Island; [RI] Jamestown-Verrazona Bridge, Narragansett Bay, Block Island; [PA] Philadelphia's Liberty Bell; [NJ] Cape May, Coney Island, Asbury Park;
[FL] the Keys, Intracoastal Waterway, Daytona Beach, West Palm Beach malls and restaurants, Miami Beach Ocean Drive hotels, Fort Lauderdale's Bahia Mar Beach Resort and Yachting Center and Lauderdale-By-The-Sea's Costa Del Sol Resort, A1A coastal highway, Jungle Queen cruises, Alligator Alley with its multitudinous jackrabbits, Everglades National Park, Hialeah Horse Track, Miami Seaquarium; [GA] Marriott Atlanta Marquis, Savannah's The Marshall House, Okefenokee Swamp Wildlife Refuge; [MD] Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, Baltimore's Harbor Place, National Aquarium, West Point, Annapolis restaurants and harbor, Naval Academy Officers and Faculty Club; [VA] James River plantations, King William's St. John's Church, Colonial Williamsburg and Busch Gardens, Cape Charles, Alexandria, Galax Old-Time Fiddlers Convention, Charlotteville's Boar's Head Inn, Richmond's Edgar Allen Poe Museum, White House of the Confederacy, Museum of Fine Arts, and the Shockoe Slip's Bookbinders, the Monitor-Merrimac Memorial Bridge-Tunnel, Wolf Trap, Monticello, UVA, Arlington National Cemetery, Woodstock's Spring House Tavern, Big Meadows at Skyline Drive, George Washington National Forest, restored towns and plantations along the Shenandoah Valley's Route 11, Orkney Springs' 19th century resort of Shrine Mont Retreat and Conference Center, owned and operated by the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, and their outdoor Shenandoah Valley Music Festival performances, Luray's Mimsyln Thanksgiving buffet, Strasburg Emporium, Bayce Resort, Harrisonburg's Golden China Buffet, Wintergreen Resort, Amherst, Abingdon's Barter Theatre and Highlands Festival, William King Regional Arts Center, Arts Depot, Martha Washington Inn, Withers Hardware Restaurant, and The Tavern,
Virginia Beach's Cavalier Hotel; [DC] Smithsonian Museums, Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, Washington Monument, Cherry Blossom Festival, Congressional and Supreme Court Buildings, The Washington Zoo, The Wilton House, National, Folger and Ford Theatres, Arena Stage, Watergate, Kennedy Center, Fourth of July Fireworks, International Folk Festival, Reflecting Pool, Georgetown and "M" Street entertainments and area restaurants, Kramerbooks & Afterwards Cafe&Grill; [CA] Pacific Highway and Ocean, San Francisco's Bay, Golden Gate Bridge, Haight-Ashbury, Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, Tenderloin District, Hollywood Walk of Fame; [IL] Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Lake Michigan; [SC] Greeneville's downtown and County Art Museum; [NC] Kitty Hawk, Elizabethan Gardens, Asheville["The Paris of the South"]'s Malaprops Cafe&Bookstore and Blue Spiral 1 Fine Art Gallery, Biltmore Estate Gardens and Winery, Black Mountain, Qualla Boundary and the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Smoky Mountain National Park, Boone, Blowing Rock; [TN] Johnson City's Cafe Pacific, Senior Center, art shows/receptions at Nelson Fine Art Gallery, ETSU Reece Museum and Slocumb Gallery, Johnson City Area Arts Council, pool swimming and expositions at Freedom Hall on Liberty Bell Boulevard; Chattanooga Aquarium; Nashville's Hard Rock Cafe; Jonesborough's Art Glass Gallery&Shop, Year 2000 Celebration at Old Quarters catered by Main Street Cafe, "high tea" at Cranberry Thistle, Parson's Table and Dogwood Lane restaurants, The Bistro and Sweet Shop, Rocky's Pizza, storytelling and plays at Jonesborough Repertory Theatre, luncheons and private parties at Windows On Main Street, riding in the carriage of the horse-and-buggy to get him his favorite hamburger at Burger King, sumptuous buffets at private homes and public places, the library and Presbyterian Church, Jonesborough Days July Fourth outdoor crafts exhibits and sales, Town Yard Sale, and Pangaea World Music Festival (organized by Steve Cook); Elizabethton's Duck Crossing Antique Mall and Doe River with covered bridge; area Ryan's and Chinese restaurants; spectacular view from the drive up and down Roan Mountain; Beauty Spot (view of seven states); Greeneville's General Morgan Inn and its art exhibits/shops and antique stores; Kingsport's Bays Mountain Park Nature & Raptor Centers, Planetarium, Watershed Room, and Lake; downtown Bristol and the Motor Speedway's Christmas Light Show; [KY] Jenny Wiley State Resort Park; [WV] New River Gorge, Parkersburg's Ohio River, Harpers Ferry, Charlestown Race Track; and [ME, MA, NY, MD, NC, VA, CA, GA and FL] docks/slips for large and small boats, fish markets, beaches, piers, boardwalks and wharves; seven falls (from [MA] a slightly wild horse, [OH] a dirt bike and snowboard, [VA] two-tiered stone fountain, concrete steps, tripping over a cat, and [DC] flight of stairs), three broken/chipped bones (tail bone, right ankle and elbow), cracked ribs, numerous sprained ankles, a few ear infections and tooth impactions, second degree burns on face and shoulders at age 11 months; entertainment in forms ranging from dancing in restaurant/lounges to movies (from PG to X-rated) and opera performances; attendance at transvestite, belly dancing, and striptease theatres, along with gay and lesbian bars, comedy shops, sex toy stores and "peep shows," and restrained betting on horse, trotters, and greyhound race tracks; one good and one fun jewelry, and two stuffed animal collections; one motocross race; ownership of three sets of fine china, two of sterling silver and one of plated, four of crystal glasses, various serving pieces of sterling, china, and crystal, and three rifles (.22, WWI Karabiner 98 German Mauser, and .30-.30/20-gauge shotgun over-and-under); a large library of diverse books from local to international -- hardcover, paperback, and antique -- and original, mostly traditional, art, modern and antique furniture, linens, draperies, curtains and rugs, and clothing from designer evening gowns and four-inch gold heels to overalls and sneakers;
immersion in classical to pornographic literature and art; fifteen car ownerships (jointly a VW Beetle, Thunderbird, Mustang, Saab, milk truck, service truck, Ford truck, and singly two small foreign cars, Corvair [automatic], two VW Rabbits, Corvette, Blazer, and Grand Am [automatic]); facials at Elizabeth Arden's, professional makeup, hairstyles, and wigs of all colors and lengths, false eyelashes and beehive hairdos; residence in 18 apartments, two trailers, eight rooms, four rental houses, and twelve parental homes; four vegetable and five flower gardens;
nine major trespassing incidents, two identity thefts, four robberies, two rapes, and nine violent sexual assaults [the worldwide war against women]; ownership and maintenance of eight house dogs (Boston Terrier Mimi, Dachsund Jerry, Doberman Pincer Chance, two large mutts Roosie&Duke, two Pekinese Chi&Milo, Jack Russell Hoss), and fifteen house cats (one Persian, long- and short-haired tabbies and strays), tropical fish, parakeets and turtles, plus numerous farm animals (goats, banty chickens, turkens, guineas, rabbits, pheasants, ducks, and eight outdoor beagles); one suicide attempt in 1961 with pills, and another in 1995 with pills and alcohol, neither requiring hospitalization; playing checkers, Chinese checkers, chess, gin rummy, Scrabble, poker, pinochle, cribbage, Monopoly, bridge, and other card and board games;
four arrests and incarcerations originating from Page County VA, consequent to requesting official protection for myself and my property there; two killings of profession and identity generated from VA's Shenandoah Valley; one involuntary institutionalization for mental illness (schizo-affective disorder bipolar type); four years of required psychotropic medication (Depakote, Abilify, Zoloft, Wellbutrin) and psychiatric counseling; one life-threatening sickness and numerous concentrated "deaths"; ownership of three commercial businesses and one non-profit;
seven major wars (World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Granada, Bosnia, and two in the Persian Gulf); nine religious denomination affiliations (Baptist, Christian Scientist, Evangelical Congregational, Quaker, Episcopal, Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, Church of Christ); 21 different jobs and professions, ranging from inventory clerk to systems manager; 33 employment positions, plus temporary jobs from handing out coupons to system design and implementation; one firing, one involuntary leave of absence, and seven promotions; five protest demonstrations (TN, CA, and DC);
two formal civic (Democratic and Green) party and three regional (Appalachian Writers Association, Appalachian Women's Alliance, Appalachian Studies Association) affiliations; five political organizational memberships [SNCC (NYC), SSOC (TN),
NOW, ACLU, and AI (VA)]. Locales stretch from the Atlantic to Pacific Coasts and Texas to Michigan, with various residences and travels in between.
"Mon amour pour toi est si grand que le monde."
My love for you is as grand as the world.
"On pardonne tant que l'on aime."
Where there is love there is forgiveness.
-- Rochefoucauld
"Le coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît point."
The heart has its reasons which reason knows nothing of.
-- Blaise Pascal Pensées
"Newcomers to the Internet are often startled to discover themselves not so much in some soulless colony of technocrats as in a kind of cultural Brigadoon - a flowering remnant of the '60s, when hippie communalism and libertarian politics formed the roots of the modern cyberrevolution. ..."
-- Stewart Brand in We Owe It All To The Hippies
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