March On

Last week I went to my first protest march of 2018.  This was the second Women’s March, subtitled the March to the Polls.  Although I have missed an occasional midterm election, I have voted in every presidential election since I turned 18.  It saddened me when my younger son didn’t even register in time to vote in 2016 because he felt it didn’t matter.  One goal of this year’s march was to register more voters.

I suspect most of us were there to share our outrage at politics as they stand.  While waiting to march, too far back to hear the speeches, people were checking their phones and muttering about the government shut down.  Blame who you will, the government should not close.  It is not a store, it is not a union operation that may go on strike.  It seems increasingly that our government officials are shielded from accountability.  They are rich, have great health care, if the government shuts down they still get paid, if they harass women their legal fees are paid for by we the taxpayers.  The things that don’t work in our democracy do not affect them directly at all.   I fear that even if we vote the old guard out, the new guard will probably not be any better.

This year’s march surprised me in its numbers.  I heard that here in Chicago we had between 250,000 and 300,000 marchers.  I missed most of the speeches and tired of standing waiting for the actual march to begin.  When I moved closer to the speakers and could hear bits and pieces, I was unimpressed.  The speeches seemed more politics as usual mixed with some self-promotion.  The protest signs were the best part, as they were last year.  There is so much creativity in people’s wrath.  All those women, all those pink hats.  Yes, and men, children, LGBTQ folks and people of color.  While I would have liked to see the march more representative of all Chicagoans, it was a day to remember.

I still intend to protest and vote.  I have thought long and hard about a more active form of advocacy and remain stuck before implementation. In the meantime, see you at the polls.

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Year in Review–Part 2

My retrospective of 2017 resumes in July. July was a mishmash of events: picture taking around Chicago, a trip to the Michigan Dunes, a road trip to Iowa for a writing workshop, a trip to New York for a choral festival and a health care protest.

August was largely a domestic adventure. We began work on our house which was built in the 1880’s. This round was largely external–remove the siding, foam insulate the entire house and replace the siding with new materials. Repaint. Suffice to say, the work is not done yet although the house is warmer this winter than previously. This is a good thing since temperatures have been in the single digits this week. The enterprise involved men on scaffolding outside nearly every window of the house which did little for privacy. This noise was equally hard on my nerves and those of my poor cats. The house waits for warmer weather and a final coat of paint but it does look good.

August 21st was one of the year’s highlights. We took a family trip to Oregon to intersect the total eclipse. Despite threats of massive crowds we viewed the totality just the three of us off a road in rural Oregon. The sudden darkness and chill, the silence and eerie shadows made it well worth the trip. After the event, which passed far too quickly (only around 2 minutes of total eclipse, after all), we hit the road and found the traffic. We missed our rendezvous with family in Washington, spent a night in a hotel and then joined up in Chelan, Washington.

Not a bad sunset, eh? So it seems I won’t finish my 2017 retrospective tonight either. The fun continues tomorrow.

Year in Review

What a year. I feel as though just December encompassed a year’s worth of content. It seems wiser to look it through in sequence, so I will start with January.
The year started a bit slowly, well, no it didn’t. I spent a few weeks just hanging out, working and taking pictures. My son was home for the semester and he began cooking dinners for us from a subscription service that sent us the ingredients twice a week.

The real fun began with a protest or two. I became politically engaged and marched to protest the inauguration on January 20th. I then joined with two other friends on January 21st in the Women’s March in Chicago on a surprisingly warm and sunny day. If good weather is proof of celestial approval, then our cause was a good one.

A week later, rather jet lagged and hungry, I stumbled into a different march in a very different location. These folks were participating in an anti-government march but they represented a right wing group and I was in Rome.

For around a month, I took an unpaid sabbatical in Italy. It was an escape from winter, Chicago-style, from the stresses of work and a chance to work on a book I had written. I rented an apartment in Baria, Italy in the southern region of Puglia. I enjoyed sunny 60 degree weather, edited and learned the ropes of submitting a book to agents, walked on the waterfront, ate good food and studied Italian. All of this by myself. On weekends and at the beginning and end of my trip, I toured around the region and had some amazing experiences. I also achieved my goal of feeling more as though I lived in Bari and less of a tourist. It is wonderful to stay in a place long enough to develop favorite walks, cafes, stores and restaurants.

I can’t even come close to describing even the highlights of my stay. I visited towns throughout the area. Polignano a Mare, Trani, Altamura, Lecce, and on the way home a drive through the Amalfi Coast and a visit to Pompei. The picture below is of Matera, one of my more interesting stops.

I returned to Chicago in March and caught up on work and home routines. I protested again on tax day and marched for science with my son on a rainy day in Seattle.

May found me taking in the Jardins in Paris. More good food, good coffee,great art and long walks in historic places.

It wasn’t all fun and games, of course. I learned my father had cancer a year ago today. He is doing well but the long term is still not clear. His sister, my aunt, was also diagnosed with cancer around the same time. She has had more struggles with painful chemotherapy and radiation treatment. My 14 year old cat was diagnosed with lymphoma. After much suffering she didn’t make it. She is much missed but our family has been enriched by a new baby, adopted from the local shelter.

I am now in June and will break off my year at the half way point. Expect further reminiscences tomorrow.

Happy New Year to all. I hope 2017 was a good year and 2018 will be even better.

Things that Glow

New York City, Times Square at night.

So many things can be said to glow. Glow seems to be determined by a quality of light but can range from the over the top advertising in the image above, to the young girl’s dress at her quinceanera seen below.

Such an event must come with an emotional glow as well. I can only imagine this girl feels the warm glow of being the star of the show. She probably feels very grown up and beautiful surrounded by her friends, a celebrity with her paparazzi.

Autumn leaves glow in the sun. It almost seems as if they emit their own light. This photo was taken a year ago yesterday. I think warm weather has delayed color changes a bit this year.
Thanks to the Daily Post for this week’s theme: Glow.

G is for…

Gelato (and glaces) seen in Paris.

Graffiti, also from Paris.

And then lounging in the Luxembourg Gardens–note the 4 g’s.

Thanks to Cee for this photo meme.

Pedestrian

I always walk more when I travel and, usually, I see more people walking as well. I have always been a little shy of street photography as I am reluctant to photograph strangers. I don’t like looking down the barrel of someone else’s camera lens. Why should I impose on others? Have you ever wondered how many random photos there are of you floating around the internet? More than a few I would guess unless you never leave home.
For the Daily Post Photo Challenge this week (Pedestrian, obviously) I sorted through my travel photos and found a few that seem to illustrate the theme well.

Yangshuo, China. Normally a tourist would see quite a crowd from this vantage point but we had the advantage of traveling in January. We had a wonderful lunch here and then went biking. Biking out of the city proper was one of the more terrifying experiences I have had in a long time. Imagine bumper cars but you are on a bike and everyone else has a car or motorcycle. And there are no rules.

San Sebastian, Spain. You can spend an entire evening there walking and consuming tapas (pintxos).

Far too many pedestrians in Hong Kong. After a while the crowds and neon got the best of me and I took the subway back to my hotel.

Hong Kong made me think of New York City. Manhattan has no shortage of foot traffic. This Microsoft store looks like a modern church (and perhaps this is a sign of our times). It also looks like a copy of some Apple stores I’ve seen. Vive la difference (or not).

Windows

A gelateria in Lecce, Italy. I didn’t stop for fear of missing my train.

If the eyes are the windows to the soul, then windows are eyes to the world’s interiors. What can be better while traveling than window shopping or (at times) window spying? Here are a few of my window shots from Italy for The Daily Post Photo Challenge: Windows.

Doubled windows of a corner store in Bari, make for an interesting effect.

Windows light the night so you can people watch without being observed.

Window shopping in Paris isn’t half bad either.