I just had purple lightning explode all around me. Very queer. I like.
Today was also the first time I noticed--really noticed--just how vibrant the Twin Cities can get in the summer. I usually miss this when I take the express bus home on I-94, but today for whatever reason I grabbed the 16's slow lumber down University Ave. And at first it seemed like another long, uneventful ride. I noticed two gay guys sitting outside Cupcake, talking. Then, a young goth couple crossing the street by Schneider Drug.
And suddenly, they were everywhere. We'd go by a Cambodian restaurant and there'd be folks hanging out in the parking lot. An art gallery, where four women were sitting around chatting. A record store had a gaggle of folks crowded near the door. A martial arts studio with a dozen crusty punk kids smoking next to it, not even users of the studio but somehow deciding it'd be a good haunt to have.
And everywhere I looked, I saw neighbors on their front porches. Whole families had set up lawn chairs to take in the last hour of sun. Older couples walking to Bingo night, and Latino and American Indian groups walking through parks and down alleys. This fantastic miasma of activity, out here for everyone to see. Was it always like this? Have I just not noticed? Was it the right combination of beautiful weather, time of day, time of week? An intentional yet decentralized reclamation of public space? Or an anomaly in otherwise deteriorating communities?
Hard questions, no clear answers. But I know that when I finally got off the bus, I was in a different state of mind. I was paying attention. I was looking around. I was blown away, amazed by people, and for the briefest moment, I caught a Detroit spirit here, an agape love. I could grow to love this place yet.
And yet more firsts for the night--thanks to sis for the gumption, feast on the results:
We look like demons. It's the eyes.
By the way, I have had hair that big. Sonya cannot say the same.
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