“He was small and lithe, like a house cat.” Arundhati Roy talking about some guy in Moscow rather than me.
I was abseiling down the Zugspitze…
No sharks in these waters, i said…
At 80,000 feet, the left aileron began sticking…
The howling of the wolves grew louder…
He pulled my noose snug…
When they swarmed onto the deck, i fired my last round and drew my knife…
The Kommandant barked, “Diese Papieren sind nicht in Ordnung”…
The anaconda slithered closer…
The other squad members were all dead…
I swallowed my last sip of water…
The Comanches blocked the only way out…
I struggled to reattach the oxygen hose…
I was Segwaying down D Street behind enemy lines when i spotted this. Adansonia in Petaluma, i wondered?
Doesn’t look dangerous, i thought. But then, as i drew closer i noticed something enticing.
And this.
I rolled around to the end of the building, giving it a wide berth, and saw something else interesting.
Detail.
The door was open. There was only one visible occupant, a woman who appeared to be unarmed.
I glided slowly to the door, dismounted, tucked my helmet under my arm, and keeping my hands visible, called out a cheery “Hello?” The woman looked up and smiled, a good sign, or was it a trick? I stepped inside.
No net fell from the ceiling, no armed guards sprang from trapdoors in the floor; so i relaxed, identified myself, and remarked that i was curious about the mural and sculptures on the side wall. Were they hers?
Oh no, they’re Michael Garlington’s and this is his studio. I took a brief tour and learned that Michael is there a lot, his presence marked by a white van parked at the door. I went back this morning and caught him inside.
Michael has done some very interesting sculpture although his finest piece, the 40′ tall “Photo Chapel”, is not in the studio, it having been commissioned by Burning Man and burned there last September. But here’s a video that includes footage of it.
The studio is at 40 4th Street in Petaluma, northwest of the D Street Bridge. Tell ‘im Matte said Hello.