I am in love. Again. It happens yearly. Apparently, I just can’t commit, because every spring I fall in love all over again, after swearing her off from October to April. But then every year we meet up again at the May Day Parade, and our torrid affair starts all over.
My friends and family have tried to talk me out of it. They badmouth her all the time, telling me she’s too “urban” and that she’s cold—a real Ice Queen. And I almost believe them, until I see her at the parade. She’s all sun-warmed and optimistic; I’m desperate for a change after a winter trapped in the condo with my partner. So I fall into it every time. I can’t resist her. I am having a hot and heavy urban affair with my city.
Minneapolis and I make one hot couple. We have good GTF (go together factor). It’s the usual story for an illicit affair. I throw myself into her and lose all sense of responsibility that might be waiting for me at home. I just run around wherever she wants me to go, lost in her beauty and loving the way she makes ME look. She’s my trophy wife, my yearly midlife crisis, the Beyonce to my Jay-Z.
We have our secret rendezvous. The dark, romantic nooks of The Sample Room in Northeast, the leafy, winding path behind River Road, the quiet halls of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. We sneak away to kayak on tranquil lakes or to picnic by Minnehaha Falls with a bottle of wine.
When we feel bold, like we could care less what anyone says, we go public with our affair, parading it for all to see on bicycles rented from the new Freewheel on the Greenway. The Greenway spans the entire city, and I travel up and down the length of it, admiring my city’s superior beauty, her peaks and valleys, the length and breadth of her.
In June we spend late nights dancing at Pi and celebrating Pride week in Loring Park. We lunch on the patio at Pizza Luce, enjoying Stella on tap and a vegan Mock Muffaleta (best sandwich EVER, even if you’re a meat eater). We spend a LOT of time with friends, and by June, even they grow to accept us as a legitimate couple. They say things like, “Now I understand what you see in her” and “Damn, she’s hot!” And I feel vindicated in my reckless abandon.
In July we lie on a blanket under starry skies and watch fireworks in Powderhorn Park, surrounded by other lovers on their blankets. From above the park looks like a patchwork of optimism, a quilt of hope that this feeling will never end. We’re only midway through the summer, but already the feeling of an ending is creeping in. The fear of separation from my mistress sends me into a flurry of activity…No, not a flurry! That sounds too much like winter! A tizzy, then. It sends me into a tizzy, trying to squeeze in as many rendezvous as humanly possible. One more rooftop party downtown in August! One more concert on the mall at the University! One more canoe down the creek! Time is if the essence, because come September, everyone will turn on us again. We will turn on each other.
Come September, we’ll be lucky to have one more warm evening stroll through the Sculpture Garden. We might hook up at the James Page Blubber Run, our last bit of silliness together every year, but it will feel hollow. She will have been increasingly cold to me, sometimes as cold as 40 degrees, and the chorus of naysayers will start up again. “She’s too cold!” And I’ll agree.
I’ll try to keep the dream alive as late as November, when I vote for the officials I think are best for her, because even when we turn on each other, I love my city. But by November, it’s clear we can’t be together year round. It’s clear the detractors are right. She is an Ice Queen. The dirty snow reminds me that she is “too urban.” I’ll head back inside where my always faithful partner is waiting with a warm meal and her warm arms, and we’ll settle in for a long winter’s nap, until May rolls around again.
What makes your city great? What do you love about her? Give it some thought. If you don't know, get out there and find out! Once you learn to love her, you'll be more inclined to get involved.
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Well, that was a lovely commentary. I, too, am a Minneapolitan, or Minneapolite, or whatever we are called. I, too, love this city. I live in NE and wouldn't have it any other way. It's a lovely thing that you can recognize your appreciation of Minneapolis so consistently (even though the pangs of coldness may freeze your soul). I generally forget how much I like it here until I am showing foreigners around.
My parents-in-law recently made their first visit to America from India. Walking over Stone Arch Bridge, pointing out the Mills ruins, meandering through MIA and Uptown, strolling around the lakes, going to a show at the Guthrie, all made me see, once again, how much our city has to offer.
I lament that I will abandon this town in not too long. I am moving away for school to North Carolina in August. It will be a temporary stint, and who knows where life will take me after that, but I hope some day to return again to this city that I love.
I'm so sorry you have to leave! May through September, this is the best city ever. I'm sure you're familiar with the Atmosphere song called "Say Shh"-- here's a link to a cute video someone made to go along with the song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8Xz925jSNg
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I sure do wish I had your enthusiasm about my armpit of a town. I have moved away, but I always seem to end up back here where the cost of living is low. I am convinced that this town is the unemployment capital of the world since jobs are so scarce. We do have a river, which I loved to walk along when I lived downtown. This mid-western town lacks fancy museums and organized events, well, except for the occasional "meet me on the rooftop" on the roof of a downtown parking garage. *sighs* I do try to look on the bright side of things, but given my present circumstances, I am simply having a hard time seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.
After reading your comment, I thought, "Oh yeah...I probably sound pretty pollyanna to people who have less going on in their towns." And I didn't know how to respond. But now that I reread your comment and after giving it some thought, I know what I want to say.
YOU can make your town great! There are tons of small midwestern towns that have built something lovable out of nothing! Look at Pepin, WI. It was an armpit of a town too, with nothing but a river (well, a lake in the middle of a river, anyway), and it became an arts community. They have great theater and art galleries and a river walk. Get involved in city government or start a grassroots movement to clean up the riverfront or to kickstart the arts. Encourage people who live in big old farmhouses to turn them into bed and breakfasts. Outdoorsy people could start up an outfitter and canoe guide service. Tourism creates jobs for people who live there and brings people into town who may think, "Hmm...nice place...needs jobs...maybe I move my business here?"
It may take several years to turn it around, but it can happen with the work and vision of a few dedicated and organized people.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Glad you love your city. I must agree with Ivy that I am not a fan of where I live. I am stuck here as well. So many more bad memories than good and so many people that I don't want to see again.
I like the way you described it though it captured me. It is nice to see someone that likes their city!!!
http://www.progressiveu.org/032913-lupus-uncureable-wait-what
Love comments? I do too!
Find what you love in your town. It might be something small, like an ice cream stand or a good place to watch the sun set. If you can't think of it off the top of your head, go looking! There must be something...
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Small towns have great things too, just usually a lot less of them. I have lived in the same small town my whole life (with the exception of college in a different small town) and there are some really awesome things about it - the best ice cream anywhere for less than everywhere, a movie theater that takes me 5 minutes to walk to and only $4 for a matinee, a Rec Park with free access to softball and baseball fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, and a walking path, and a library that is now 110 years old in an octagonal building. Its just hard to live in the same small town because you see the same 4 or 5 places over and over and over again.
But I'm happy to say that your blog has inspired me to get out and re-discover my small town. Maybe there's some hidden treasure around here that will be the perfect place to hang out for the summer....
Is your library a Carnegie library? It sounds like one. They are rare, and usually beautiful, and an amazing piece of history!
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
Nope, its just your regular municpal public library. It doesn't get any private funding (just a small portion of the tax-payers' dollars). It is really an awesome building that I feel is underused by our community....well at least by the people my age anyway. I'd love a library program geared towards the "young adult" crowd...hmmm...maybe I'll mention that to my mom since she's on the board....
Oh and if you're interested here it is:
My local library
Most Carnegie libraries are small public libraries. Beginning in the late 1880's, Andrew Carnegie paid to have libraries built in thousands of small towns across America. Many of them have an octagonal center or tower. Your library fits the description and time frame of a Carnegie library. The libraries do not receive Carnegie Foundation funds anymore. Here's a Wikipedia entry that has a picture of one (though most are brick, I think, and this one is stucco): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_library
Check it out. Your town may have a jewel!
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
This is cute and hilarious. At first you lead people to believe you were having a affair with a person when it is really the city. Good blog. Wish I could have thought of that.
Not the blues you might think of, the sad and depressing kind. Blue is the color of my village. Well, at least that's what I see. I live in rural Alaska, the kind of place where there are no roads connected to any other place in the world. We're on the coast, and it's break-up season, so the water is open and clear again, the rivers are flowing, the ice is nearly gone, and the sky is that perfect sunny blue with scattered puffy clouds. Daylight lasts over 20 hours a day, so I go to sleep and wake up to sunlight. My "backyard" as we call it, is the tundra, a view of the mountains, the rivers, the beach. It's just heavenly. Come July when I'm back from vacationing, everything will be green again. Green tundra, green low-bushes filled with berries just waiting to be picked, green trees. And everyone wants to be outside together walking, fishing, playing, beach combing, or cooking over a fire. No malls to interrupt, no highways to smog the air and cut the silence, no arcade or Wal-Mart or fast food restaraunt, just the community. So many things to love, mostly the good people, the community family. I love my village.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/kariskoett
"All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else."
-Buddha
Heavenly is a good word for it!
And, Hi! I haven't seen you around for a while!
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
It's always funny to listen to people say, "Oh my gosh, I could NEVER live out there. How do you do it? What do you DO? There's nothing to do there." :)
Hi back! Yes, I did have a lull in my ProgressiveU participation. I don't know what happened. I think I was so stressed with school related things that I think I just forgot about everything else, lost interest in my temporary, stress-induced sadness. But it's all good. I was the senior advisor (as a first year teacher!!), and graduation just came and went. It's the end of the year, so everything just went haywire, of course, trying to finish everything up. Whew! Glad to be almost done. :)
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/kariskoett
"All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else."
-Buddha
Congrats on (almost) surviving your first year! Almost done! Woo hoo!
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I don't think you realize how huge it is until it's over. I realize now how much it's about survival than anything. Returning for a 2nd year equals success... :)
I need to catch up on your blogs...
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/kariskoett
"All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else."
-Buddha
You haven't missed much on that front. I've been sort of disengaged since Kiota died. It took the wind out of my sails.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I would give my left arm to open my back door to an Alaskan sunset.
how gorgeous!!!
Jeanna Marie
I'm sure you would enjoy the Alaskan sky more with both arms still attached. However, yes, it is gorgeous here, especially in the summer. In the winter, sunset it around, oh, 2pm. Right now the sun sets between 12 and 1 in the morning. :) I recommend a visit to Alaska any day of the year. There's always something to experience and enjoy here.
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/kariskoett
"All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else."
-Buddha
What time does the sun come up? Is it weird to go to bed while it's still light?
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
The sun rises (I think) somewhere around 3am, but I'm sleeping at that time, so I don't know. :) It's weird when you don't watch the time, and you think it's around 8, and it's really about 11:30... haha. It's definitely something to get used to, but I try to just go to bed when I'm tired, and I don't really have a problem sleeping. I also have thick curtains in my bedroom... :)
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/kariskoett
"All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else."
-Buddha
I always love those that know the truth in stopping to smell the roses. I must admit I am the same way where I live in Huntsville AL. The jasmine, magnolias, and honey suckle fragrance is in every inhale. It is a smell that can leave you sleepy, arouse you, make you content, or leave you dreamy. It is all dependent on your mood. The cotton grows, there are horses everywhere, creeks, etc. so beautiful. Stepping outside and breathing in seems like the greatest gift that we were ever allowed. I loved your writing, and it makes my heart smile to know that there are places all over that can make one happy just to be alive.
Jeanna Marie
Huntsville sounds lovely! Unless you have seasonal allergies....
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
The other day, I was driving home from work and passed a babbling brook on the side of a county road. I thought of this blog. Then, I thought about my hometown and realized we're really lucky here. You have to look a lot harder to find beautiful things in the town where I grew up.
Right at this very moment, as I look out the window, there is a mariachi band unloading equipment from a van. They are in full costume...royal blue, white, and gold with shiny white shoes. I'm guessing they have a gig at the Global Market. Whatever their reason for being here, is there any happier sight than a brightly colored mariachi band in your yard?
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman