lucktraveler57 2.0

 On Sunday much of the family went to a church service where the graduates would be lauded. I opted out. I always carry a concern that if I enter a religious space unexplained lightening will strike, perhaps followed by the majestic laughter of God as my past misdeeds are suitably punished. It's best not to tempt higher beings.  We reconvened for lunch at a restaurant in an area that contains a number of historic warehouses now repurposed as bars, eateries and I'm assuming housing or office space. It's always interesting to me to gaze at the brick and stone edifices with their arched entrances, architectural details, often in this case Romanesque, and feeling of solidity and gravity  and compare them to the buildings that, surrounded by vast, asphalt parking lots, pockmark the landscape in the modern era. These older buildings have the character, grace and beauty that is timeless and makes them suitable for repurposing. The contemporary buildings are designed strictly for...

 I did it to myself really, suggesting to my nephews wife that she would have many hands on deck to help pull off the graduation party. Neighbors pitched in, one lent chairs, another a pavilion tent. All of this needed to be gathered and transported, meaning hand carried, to my nephew's back yard. Plus, broken down and returned after the festivities.  So, this is how I and several other family members found ourselves carrying tables and chairs down the block and attempting to figure out how to erect a pavilion tent on a hot, sunny 85 degree day. Then, later, folding up those tables, chairs and tent and transporting them, meaning hand carried, back to their respective owners in the waning hours of that same, hot, sunny 85 degree afternoon. It is a good thing I regularly visit the gym.  It's the type of thing you do for family, and, besides, I'm retired, at least for one day I had a purpose in life.

 Being a gay man, as well as for a number other reasons, I've never had kids of my own. I've relatively little experience with young children, let alone babies. On this trip I spent quite a bit of time with my grandniece, 6 months and grandnephew, 3 years. Observing them I began to ponder what life looks like through their eyes.  A tiny baby, emerging from a dark quiet environment into a world of light, color and sound. Trying to gain an understanding of what is safe and comforting from that which isn't. I watched as she recognized her parents and grandparents, my brother and sister in law and my niece and her family live about a mile from each other. I viewed first hand the innocence and complete dependance on others necessary during the first months of life.  The grandnephew, making connections, learning new things each minute yet still maintaining that innocence and dependence while striving to find a way to shed them and take greater charge of his young life. It must ...

 If one looks at photos of air travel back in the day, things were quite different. People dressed nicely and there were in flight meals, even for short hauls, air travel was an experience.  It is still an experience albeit a slightly different sort of one. I had an early Friday morning departure time. The airport was packed and just short of total chaos. The security line was comparable to the line of the most popular ride at an amusement park on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Our gate was changed from the central terminal to one on the outer edge, without exaggeration, 3/4 of a mile away. I felt for the elderly couple in front of me, trekking with their carry ons to an entirely different section of the vast structure which is O'Hare airport. I'm not certain but the gate I eventually left from might have been in a different county the the original.  It's a short hop, 1 hour. Drinks and difficult to open packets containing, perhaps, 2 pretzels were begrudgingly distributed b...

 My nephew's child was graduating from high school so we used the opportunity to meet in Minneapolis, where he, his wife and the graduate live, for a family reunion. I flew up from Chicago, using air miles we had been collecting, my brother and sister in law, niece, her husband, I guess he would be my nephew in law, and their 2 small children, a boy 3 and the newest addition to the family, a little girl 6 months, flew in from Seattle, where they live in close proximity to one another and my other nephew came in from Fresno California. We, the travelers, stayed in a spacious AirBnb about 4 blocks from my nephew.  It was a houseful. One reason I was attending, was, even though they are too young to form long term memories yet, I don't want to become a mythic uncle. Although I might not be able to,  going forward, see them very often, I would at least like them to have an inkling of who I am and what I look like.  I was in a small, fully booked, regional plane. There we...