The Welcome Wagon

It's amazing how hospitable people can be.
I'm now just outside of Cleveland proper. Dale's parents are letting me stay with them until Mani and I head for Chicago or Milwaukee. (I'll be figuring it out tonight)
These are some of the sweetest people you'll ever meet. They've been married over fifty years. When I arrived they came out to greet me and welcome me in. It's like I'm family and they'd never set eyes on me before today. I love it.
It's people like this that I come out to meet. People that prove the world is not a sinister and forbidding place, but actually full of wonderful generous interesting people (ok, there are some crazies out there, I know I know. I have my eyes peeled, don't worry).
At any rate, I'll likely be meeting the whole family tomorrow, and seeing a bit of Cleveland. Mani invited me to the zoo, which is pretty tempting. I don't know which I'll be able to do. I still have to figure it out.
I'll try to upload pictures in a bit. But for now I'm going to go be sociable.

Post Script: Notes about the Photos

This is Dale and his father. Dale being the bald one on the right, His dad being the one on the left in the hat. They're standing on a rock jetty in Lake Erie on the picnic for Dale's mom's birthday.














This is Dale's mom and his niece Julia. She's adorable, and she's really into animals. I'll be sending her a shark's tooth necklace when I get back to SF.

A Little Bite of a Big Apple

So I made it into New York today. Dale showed me around a little. I saw the giant twin tower crater and the financial district. And we walked to Time Square. The whole city is lit up to the point you can only tell it's night because the colors are more vibrant. This place is so crowded. So full of people living and jostling, competing over everything. Jobs. Food. Parking. Air. It's amazing. And all in this setting that's layers upon layers of history. You have brand new laid over centuries old. Bricks and glass and metal and grime. It's amazing. Fascinating. I want to see more. I open my eyes wide to take in more than once. I'm sure I look like a bumpkin, but what do they know? These people that live their lives in this city and never really see it as they dodge traffic and talk on cell phones and sip coffee in their haste to get ahead to earn more to spend on drinks every saturday night... They don't see the world as I see it. You can see the people who do. The ones standing still, like me. Not necessarily the tourists with the cameras and the shopping bags from Century 21 and Macy's. Not them. The other ones. The ones that stand out because they're clear in a blur of rushing pushing people. They're watching the world run around without seeing.
I wish I could see more. I'll have to come back.
Tomorrow Dale and I are driving to Cleveland.



















This Water Tower Robot is pointy and old. I like him.