Always a Party in the 'Polis

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Up and at’em. Get ‘er Done. Moona wakes WAAAYYY too early this morning, dawn’s pearly light and all that. And Mindi’s leaving, and therefore so are we… breakfast at the Seward Collective, surly punk attitude, yummy omelet. Living in Cali, I’ve gotten used to hipster wait staff and remain nonplussed.

To the library, downtown Minneapolis main branch. Too early we are, but bandwidth is like water, and so plopped down on a bench with laptop open, we wait. And meet a couple of older Japanese folks, here for the Lion’s Convention. There is to be a parade, we understand, in between showing them pictures of our travels. Into the waiting arms of the children’s library which is rockin, complete with a street view of said parade. Which begins soon thereafter, and is still continuing when we leave two hours later. Thousands and thousands of Lion’s Club members, from all over the world, mixed up with a few marching bands. I stare at the band geeks the same way I stare at nuns… wondering what really possesses someone to make those choices. Curious, not judgmental, should you be wondering.

The most interesting of the floats is the uh, Top Hat Bellies, or the “Happy Whistlers” as they call themselves. Seeing is believing, and my words really couldn’t do justice to the utter bizarre nature of this human exhibit so you’ll just have to check out the picture. Moona is handed lots of give-aways… flags from different countries, pins, a koala bear clip-on. It’s fairly fascinating stuff, as parade’s go, just because it’s so weird.

Our loving car delivers us to the May Day Café, where we are to meet loved ones Byrd and River. And here we feel right at home, surrounded by dreadlocks and piercings and tattoos, and really good coffee and vibes. Seeing these friends is just joy. Shiny and yummy. And lunch is good too, and the hours pass quickly with fun conversation about gender and queerness and dance and love. It’s good to witness their love, and feel solid connection beneath our feet.

My travel decision of the day is to drive near Madison, sleep there, and then visit a couple of to-de (tourist destinations) nearby. Storm storm storm makes the driving hard, and while Moona dreams away the time and I use up cell minutes chatting, weariness does indeed overcome. It’s going to rain tonight anyway, and so the decision to get our first motel room of the trip is a good one… $50 for a sweet suite. My impression of Wisconsin is that it is CLEAN. At least our room is, as was the restaurant where we dined. I (almost)LOVE iceberg lettuce salads. During the meal I found my attention drifting to thoughts of succulent green beans, summer squash, ripe tomatoes, chard. Missing vegetables, lovingly cooked. The eating factor has been pretty surprising as we travel. We’re eating in diners frequently (no cook stove, remember?) and just watching what other people are consuming daily is intense. There’s not a lot of access to nutritional foods…

Too tired for more, and my double bed in this non-smoking room calls to me even more than Wi-Fi. Heading towards Chicago tomorrow, and points East.