MaryAlice Musings and More

This weekend was the Twin Cities Gay Pride Celebration - people around here say it is the second largest in the nation.  For me it is always a remembrance of how much has occurred since Stonewall, and the Daughters of Bilitis, and the Mattachine Society.  Our world as gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual, queer is much different than in the early days of organizing for our civil rights.  Having come out in 1975, and moved to Madison, WI (it had the largest density zipcode of lesbians in the United States) where I was in thick of lesbian rights,  equal opportunity,   EEOC,  Affirmative Action, Women's Studies, Lysistrata, and an amazing number of lesbian.  I lived in the arms of lesbian and women's culture.  It was the extension of my wildly left political work in the late 60's and a way back to the political as personal when I realized that I was a lesbian, and saw that as a choice, and as a significant part of who I was.   So as I walked through the rows of vendors, (gay sh...

Oh,  I do love summer.  As the humidity and temperatures rise, I found myself all week, just smiling.  Heat, summer heat, sun, and afternoon rain, it is all good.  Especially good in June.  I like the feel of freshly washed sheets, the sound of the breeze rustling, as I steal a few moments of the afternoon.  Summer reads and quick naps.  Oh it is so good, it is these days that tug me back and forth from the here and now, to days long ago - carefree and smiling and feeling as if summer lasts forever and that one day takes so long to be done.  It is great to have days that tap deep appreciation, just being in the moment.  The sun so bright in the late afternoon.  I ordered a basket for Electra Karma today.  Big enough for a book, some water, a few supplies as I pedal my way through more endless days of summer. 

I have been gifted a new bike.  It is purple,  it has white wall tires,  to put the brakes on you push the pedal backward.  Who remembers when that was the ONLY way a bike stopped?  She has a really big seat.  Three gears, and oh so pretty.   She came with the name Karma, and she has Elektra written all over her.   I am thinking she is Electra Karma,  a descendent of the Greek Goddess of Clouds with Silver Linings.   This bike was bought when hopes and dreams of time in Minneapolis seemed very real, and life took another turn.  So Karma the bike was sitting in storage.  So now I get to find out what journeys will happen for me as summer begins, and I am am learning how to be a better bike rider and toodling around on my purple bike, pink helmet and a way big smile on my face!

The MN War  on Unallotment has begun!  Yesterday the Gov, that would be Pawlenty who is voluntarily leaving his job at the end of 2010 (he is not running for a third term) announced his proposed cuts in order to balance the state budget.  All on his own strong back!  The MN War  article (just hit the link!) goes to an article in the MinnPost (online newspaper mostly anchored by former MSP Journalist from the two dailies here - it is great!)   Turning the volume down on this is going to be impossible, and it might be one of the better community organizing tools to come around in a long time!   No one has ever unalloted at this level before.  At the press conference that Pawlenty held to announce that he would not run for a third term - he said the legislative session ended just fine.  So here we are - only one very good senator, the MN Supreme Court is deliberating and writing their opinion, the RNC says that they will take Norm Coleman's case to the U.S. Supreme Court if this rulin...

My side lawn has many holes, lumps, bumps and uneveness.  It makes for an exciting venue for bocce ball.  Yesterday, after much procrastination I purchased a wonderful bocce ball set.  I walked home from the store with my 35 lbs. of balls (I am feeling the lack of discretion for that effort tonight).  What fun tossing, rolling, competing.  Grandson Luke and Son in Spirit James were great competitors.  I surprised them, just when they thought Gramma was a non-competitor, I would just slide in my ball.  It's not like lawn bowling on the roof of Brits in downtown Minneapolis, but I think it is going to be lots of fun.  Going to round up some neighbors next, and see who I can recruit for a little fun and games.  Oh the joys of warm weather continue.  The fleeting days of summer are savored by us all.

It has been difficult this past week,  the "I don't like hot weather people" were really happy, and me I yearned for the feel of heat on my face and arms, to not be cold, and to feel the full, bright, high in the sky sun.  I have done a lot of walking this weekend, yesterday I walked to the Mill City Market, over the Stone Arch Bridge, and back to North East Side of Minneapolis.  What an incredible mix of nature and urban culture.  There were a pair of blue herons on the Mississippi, and many people just staring in awe of them from the bridge.  There were four women in winged costumes practicing for a performance with music coming forth from what seemed everywhere.  When I spotted the performers and tuned into the music, there was a line of 45 much older folks on the magical minneapolis tour on their segways.  Further along the from the bridge, a photographer and two subjects (maybe for a marketing campaign) looking urban, hip and with a really big attitude.  I walked ove...

Wow, I am in a whirlwind of receipts, reimbursements forms and envelopes.  I feel like a windfall has beset me.  I completed travel reimbursements, both sizable.  I sent in reimbursement for my medical reimbursement account.  I found two checks safely tucked away in a pile that I uncovered last night!  I am already imagining having all the outside window frames scraped and painted.  A the load on my shoulders, the monkey on my back has mysteriously shrunk.  I am trying to really put into my psyche the good feeling of NOT procrastinating, completing a project, just being done.  I have two more trips to request reimbursement.  All of this is just in time to put some extra money into the vacation "kitty" and "house fixing up" pot.  I'm on a roll, and I am going to get this all done.  This is one of the plus column listings:  what to do when it is June and 55 degrees outside - you take care of paperwork!

Today I mailed a report for a volunteer project that was due 3-31-09. It was not a difficult task, but one that I was not exactly sure how to complete. I knew I would have to look into some details. I just keep putting it off, and then it got big, and then there's the guilt/shame thing - and oops I'm off to the races of past nagging voices. So today I decided I was not going to let another day go by. I came home early from work, and sat at the table, laid out all the little pieces of paper, called the person in charge of receiving the reports, clarified some questions. Brought out the calculator, added and subtracted, and put numbers in boxes. Filled out the form, wrote out the late fee check, and went to the post office. I mailed the report and a birthday present to my best friend in Philadelphia. I'm smiling. It is so easy to set down the load on your back, you just have to be able to do it!

One week ago, I packed up and headed out of the park and back home.  The sun was hot, the sky blue, and the drive home was easy and very enjoyable.  Savoring 3 nights in the campground:  the "big spring", the "hole in the rock" trail, and the flowers.  Thousands of purple, lilac, lavender colored flowers.  The hummingbird's beak dipping into the center.  Flowers, flowers and more flowers.  There was a picnic table, where you could see the creek, hear the spring running, and see flowers in every direction.  Back home the flowers faded quickly.  The days are compressed with unallotment,  hiring freezes, news of cancer, or car accidents, and how we are with each other in the face of grief, fear, adversity.  So today as I sit at home processing my third Tony Kushner event,  I am feeling the ambiguity of the day,  I am feeling the chill from a sun that has not heated the day much above 60, and I am remembering how lovely those flowers were.  Flowers that come later i...