After I arrive, she fills me in on what had happened since I had last seen her. She’s profoundly spiritual, telling me that she chose her name because it is an anagram of both “heart” and “Earth.”īefore I leave that afternoon, we make arrangements to meet again at 8:30 the next morning. She’s profoundly spiritual, telling me that she chose her name because it is an anagram of both “heart” and “Earth.” She argues that a flat Earth doesn’t make sense because of the equinoxes and references “the Universal Oneness” throughout our conversation. She recounts how she campaigned for Andrew Yang during the 2020 primary, but if she had known about Marianne Williamson, she would have campaigned for her instead. She rattles off statistics and American history without a problem. She tells me that he is responsible for her living at People’s Park, quickly clarifying, “In a good way! He gave me a tent!” She’s exceptionally quick witted at 73 years old - sharper than most students I’ve met at UC Berkeley. I met TreaH the previous afternoon, walking by People’s Park, while she was talking to a social worker. For the next 45 minutes, I forget she lives in a tent. My recording of our conversation begins with her remarking, “I just love that guys can wear nail polish now, you know? I mean, it’s such an interesting (thing) because we’re kind of dove-tailing and synthesizing and changing.” With these words, we’ve begun. While I’m opening Voice Memos on my phone, TreaH notices my chipping nail polish. We spend the next 45 minutes together while she chronicles stories about her family, shows me photographs and makes jokes.
She opens the window to let the breeze in.
One of her dogs, Island, sits next to her until the end, and I can hear Nicole, her other dog, in the bedroom. Sitting on top, I notice Alexander Pope’s “Essay on Man.” She’s remarkably hospitable: She invites me to sit down she offers me a Cloud Water and after a few minutes, we begin the interview. I walk over and help her take a box of books inside.
As I arrive for my interview with TreaH Cleaves, a few minutes late, I see her struggling to carry a few boxes in from her car.
0 kommentar(er)
