The Wild Reed: Out and About

Wednesday, October 05, 2016

Out and About – Summer 2016

Well, autumn is here in all its unique beauty which means it's high time to review the summer just passed with the latest installment of my "Out and About" series.

Regular readers of The Wild Reed will be familiar with this series, one that I began in April 2007 as a way of documenting my life as an “out” gay man, seeking to be all “about” the Spirit-inspired work of embodying God’s justice and compassion in the world.

I've continued the series in one form or another every year since – in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 . . . and now into 2016.

So let's get started with this latest installment . . .

A real highlight of this past summer was seeing and meeting one of my all-time favorite singer-songwriters, the legendary Buffy Sainte-Marie. I was actually fortunate enough to see her twice in concert – in Minneapolis on August 26 and in Bayfield, Wisconsin on August 27.

In the image above I'm pictured with Buffy and drummer Michel Lee Bruyere. At left, Buffy is pictured on stage with guitarist Anthony King.

For images and commentary on both these performances, see the special Wild Reed post, A Music Legend Visits the North Country

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Another highlight, though a somber one to be sure, was my participation in the July 7 vigil and march remembering and honoring the life of Philando Castile, a young black man lethally shot by a police officer on July 6. Philando's girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, videoed the aftermath of the shooting and live-streamed it on Facebook. Reynold's young daughter was in the back seat of the vehicle throughout the ordeal.

Castile's death came just days after the police shooting death of another black man, Alton Sterling, in Baton Rogue, Louisiana, and was at the time the latest in a long list of black lives violently taken by law enforcement in the U.S.

For more images and commentary on the vigil and march for Philando Castile, click here.

Above: Bde Maka Ska ("White Earth" Lake), also known as Lake Calhoun, as viewed from the apartment of my good friend Raul (pictured at left wearing my Akubra Territory hat!). I've long maintained that Raul has one of the best views in Minneapolis.

For more images of Bde Maka Ska, click here, here, and here.

Above: Brent and I on the rooftop of Raul's apartment building in Uptown, Minneapolis – June 2016.

Right: A rain storm sweeping in from the west over Bde Maka Ska.

Above: With Brent and our friend Pete at the Twin Cities Gay Pride festival in Minneapolis' Loring Park – June 25, 2016.

For The Wild Reed's 2016 Queer Appreciation post, "I Will Dance," click here.

For a collection of images of LGBTQ Pride celebrations from around the world, see the special Wild Reed post, Worldwide Gay Pride – 2016.

Above: Friends Matt, Joan, and Karla – July 2016.

Left: With Brent – July 2016.

Above: Friends John, Brent, Fred, Carmen, Mark, Phil, Madeline, Noelle, and Ben – July 2016.

Above: Pictured center (wearing what I call my Cernunnos t-shirt) with friends (from left) Rick, Bob, Adrian, Brian, and John – August 2016.

Above: Breakfasting with my friend Pete at Eggy's Diner in Minneapolis – June 2016.

Right: With Pete and my friend and work colleague Julia at Our Kitchen – September 2016.

Above: With my friend Pete's nephew and niece – August 2016.

Above: On the shores of Pelican Lake, Minnesota – July 14, 2016.

I drove to Pelican Lake from the Twin Cities to spent the weekend with my good friend Angie and her family at their summer get-away spot. It was a wonderful few days away from the Cities, and great to catch up with Angie and her family.

For more images and commentary, click here.

Above: Hamming it up with Angie's and her husband Bryon's three daughters – July 16, 2016.

Above: Lake Harriet, Minneapolis – August 2016.

Above: Amelia!

Left: Summer blooms.

For more images, click here, here, here, and here.

Above: Eddie, who's clearly not in the least bit interested in the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, also known as the 2016 Summer Olympics! Perhaps he'd read Sonali Kolhatkar's critique of the Games.

Above and left: More summer beauty.

Above: My friend Kyle snapped this photo of me when we took a breather in our walk from my place to the Tiny Diner in south Minneapolis.

Right: One of my favorite flowers, the sunflower. I take after my maternal grandfather, Valentine Sparkes, in this regard.

Above: My friend Kyle, pictured by the placid waters of Lake Harriet – August 2016.

Above: Friends Tom and Darlene White, Kathleen Olsen, and Brigid McDonald, CSJ – August 2016.

Above: Celebrating my friend Omar's birthday. From left: Kyle, me, Brent, and Omar.

Left: Happy Birthday, Omar!

Right: With Brent at the Eagle/Bolt Bar – September 16, 2016. Whenever I wear this particular t-shirt out to a bar or restaurant, I joke that I'll buy a drink for the first person who says, Hey, it's Buffy! . . . or something like that. To date, no one has.