The Tower of Charm  − 18 July, 2008

I look out one window, and I see treetops.  Through another, I see planes going by.  The room is full of light.

Also, power strips and cables.

It's my music room, The Tower of Charm.  Our new house has 3 1/2 stories -- basement, first floor, second floor, and then a finished loft.  I'm in the loft, the fourth floor.  I feel like I'm in the sky.

The first thing I did after my epic, 13-hour drive through shadow was put my music room together.  Considering we were still sleeping in the basement, and the house was still filled with boxes, maybe someone else wouldn't have put it at so high a priority.  But for me -- it was my home within my home.

And now it is, as they said in Star Wars, "a fully operational battle station."  Because of all the chaos of the move, my instrumental skills suffered a bit -- there was simply no quality practice time.  I've started over at the beginning, with the blues.

Time for the tour.  (Pictures below.)

h3 -- The sun falls through the skylight onto the keyboard area.  Belle (the Hammond organ) is parked near the wall, under the poster my sixth grade class made for me.

h4 -- A view of the computer / recording area, showing the skylight.  It reminds me of the main screen on the bridge of the Enterprise.  Washington Dulles International Airport is nearby, so every now and then, I see jet go by in the distance.

h5 -- The stairwell, and then this odd little door that leads to a storage area we call John Malkovich's Head.

h6 -- From our bedroom, you can see up into the loft.  You can also see all the fans going -- heat rises.

h7 -- The living room.  Nora is sitting there like a diva.

h9 -- The kitchen area.  Neri is giving me a bark down, because I'm pointing a camera at her.  And yes, there's the houseplants which drove up the road with me from Florida.

In some ways, I can't believe the move is over.  For the past 7 months, it's been the focus almost every day.

The new chapter begins today.