Voices

Katherine here.

Lately I've decided I know the world best through voices. Knitting causes this I think. I spend large chunks of time sitting in my chair listening to TV while I work on some piece of lace that's a real mind-bender. I hear baseball games and know pretty much when to look up and see what is happening. I hear football games and within a ten minute span I'll know exactly how many rows I can safely knit between plays. I hear movies I've seen before and I can easily not look at the things I don't want to look at (the wood chipper in Fargo) and the things I do want to look at (the training scene in Rocky IV shot in the Tetons). The knitting/TV business has made me hear the world more than I see it and I find I'm missing voices rather than faces.

I've been missing Franny's voice a lot. She's been swamped planning summit stuff for Toronto (I think), mentoring stuff for Detroit, something in Australia, and the Obama family vacation in August. Her mother-in-law has been staying at her house as well. It took over two weeks (this is not a complaint), but she called several days ago. She was tired, but good and I just thrilled in hearing her for a half an hour.

It's funny, but I hear Chris's voice a lot--we actually see each other since he lives in town, but it's his voice, more than anything, that would identify him. It carries. Though I'm technologically constipated, I actually text him (I still can't spell words in the shortened text language) and I always hear his voice and humor in his replies. I don't read his texts, I hear them.

Nate's voice also carries and it always sounds a bit restrained when he's not on stage. His dad has the same off and on stage type of voice. There are times I simply hear love when either speaks to me.

We have several Wyoming friends--two with voices I love. David is from Alabama and sounds like it. His voice speaks of a shared history in the Tetons, but in a drawl that provides perfect juxtaposition. Angela used to manage Jenny Lake Lodge and her English origins and accent made her seem like some kind of royalty. When you got to know her, you realized she really was some kind of royalty--she reigned over the place. Hearing either of these voices on the phone is a lot like hearing certain songs on the radio and capturing a photograph of your past with a tune.

I think I love particular actors more for their voices, their instruments, than for any other reason. Two years ago, Angie Dickensen was staying at Jenny and I went over to her table at breakfast one morning and thanked her for her movies--I know it's corny, but I always liked her. I'd heard her voice from another dinner table the night before and was surprised by how beautiful and strong and full of sand it was. It was downright thrilling. I told her this too. She said it was her voice more than anything that made her career. We waved and said hellos for the rest of her stay and it was nice to hear that voice directed my way.

Enough for now. Thanks for listening.