Cloudless Skies, Matthea Harvey, Chihuly Gardens and Glass, and a trip to the Space Needle
- At November 08, 2014
- By Jeannine Gailey
- In Blog
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Yesterday was one of those rare cloudless sunny days in Seattle, a teeny bit cold but gorgeous. Sunny days in winter always make me a bit giddy. Glenn and I sneaked out at midday for a walk in the park, and spotted our first bald eagle in a long time circling overhead: 
Then it was off to Matthea Harvey’s reading for SAL down at Chihuly Gardens and Glass. (Glenn and I even dressed up for the event!)
I decided to spring for the “upgraded” ticket that included a little cocktail reception beforehand, and despite battling some truly horrific traffic to get it, we started the evening in the Space Needle. I moved to Seattle in 2000, and you know what? I’d never gone up the Space Needle, or even walked through its gift shop!
So it was with great pleasure that I hopped the elevator up to the observation deck for the pre-reading party, even though I hate and fear elevators with a vengeance. I got to see lots of friends and catch up, but mostly I was mesmerized by the lovely views. Here’s the Chihuly Gardens view from the Space Needle’s observation deck, about ten stories up:
The reading from Matthea Harvey’s new book, If the Tabloids are True What Are You (from Graywolf,) which I reviewed here, was slightly surreal with all the glass art and inside a giant glass dome. Here’s a view from inside, where we were sitting, which made Matthea’s poetry, usually surreal, even more surreal. It was a nice touch, actually!
After the reading, I got my book signed, and then it was off for a tour of the outdoor glass gardens at night, with the Space Needle and sculptures all lit up. It was super cold by then, so we didn’t linger, but I thought you’d like to see the place at night! It was still hopping at 9:30 PM at the Needle on a Friday night, FYI!
Anyway, if you get a chance to go to a poetry reading that combines surreal poetry with surreal art at night with a flying-saucer-from-the-sixties rising in the background, by all means, do it! Isn’t this the reason we live in Seattle?
Jeannine Hall Gailey served as the second Poet Laureate of Redmond, Washington and the author of Becoming the Villainess, She Returns to the Floating World, Unexplained Fevers, The Robot Scientist’s Daughter, and winner of the Moon City Press Book Prize and SFPA’s Elgin Award, Field Guide to the End of the World. Her latest, Flare, Corona from BOA Editions, was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. She’s also the author of PR for Poets, a Guidebook to Publicity and Marketing. Her work has been featured on NPR’s The Writer’s Almanac, Verse Daily and The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror. Her poems have appeared in The American Poetry Review, Poetry, and JAMA.
