Out and About – Summer 2012

As I write this post I can't help but think of Dusty Springfield's haunting rendition of the song "The Windmills of Your Mind," and in particular the line . . . Why did summer go so quickly / Was it something that you said?

As you'll see, it's been a very busy summer – which no doubt accounts for my experience of it going by so quickly. For many of us here in Minnesota, it's been a summer dominated by our efforts to defeat the "marriage amendment." My contribution to these efforts has been, and continues to be, as executive coordinator with Catholics for Marriage Equality MN.

It has been difficult, I must admit. Indeed, at times the work feels totally overwhelming. But thankfully I'm part of a number of communities and groups, the members of which mutually support and inspire one another. That's absolutely key, I've discovered, in any type of social justice work. Plus I have the most wonderful friends anyone could hope to find. And, as you'll see, many of them feature in the following photographs.

Above: Happy and honored to be the recipient of Dignity Twin Cities' 2012 Pride Award – June 15, 2012.

Above: Members of Catholics for Marriage Equality MN, Dignity Twin Cities, and a number of local parishes participate in the 40th annual Twin Cities Pride Parade – Sunday, June 24, 2012.

Left: With friends Darlene and Tom White, who feature in the C4ME-MN produced DVD Catholics for Marriage Equality.

Right: With my friend Rick.


For more images and commentary on this year's Pride, see the previous Wild Reed post A Catholic Presence at Gay Pride – 2012.

For The Wild Reed's 2012 Gay Pride/Queer Appreciation series, click here.

Above: The Strange Capers performing Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors in Powderhorn Park, Minneapolis.

Above: About to go kayaking with my friend and housemate Tim.

Above: In July, I introduced Tim to my favorite spot on the Mississippi River. Too bad he has a thing about heights!



Right: Two of the coolest people I know, my friends Tim and Kathleen! You may recall that I spent time in Kansas City in early June with Kathleen and her son Joey.

Left: My friend Phil, holding his cat Julianna.

Right: Friends John and Noelle.

Above: A lovely photo of my friends Liana and Curtis – July 2012.

Left: With my friend Walter at Minnehaha Falls – July 2012.

Above: In early August I traveled to Chicago with my friends Phil, Noelle, John, Liana and Curtis. We stayed with our friend Nathaniel and while in the Windy City I spent an afternoon with my friend Eduard (right).

For more images and commentary about our visit to Chicago, see here, here, here and here.

Above and left: Catholics for Marriage Equality MN's "I Do! Believe in the Freedom to Marry" event in Loring Park, Minneapolis – August 15, 2012.

For more photos and commentary, click here.

Above and right: The 'Vote No on the Voter ID Amendment' Rally – Minneapolis, August 26, 2012.

For some helpful resources on this issue, see Ricardo Levins Morales' article, "The Marriage Amendment as Decoy and How to Fight the Real Danger," and visit Our Vote, Our Future and the League of Women Voters MN.

Also, Catholics for Marriage Equality MN is hosting an event on September 29 entitled "A Matter of Social Justice: Catholics Voting 'No' on Both Amendments." For more information, click here.

Above: Enjoying summer in Minnesota! From left: Noelle, Carmen, Phil, Mark Curtis, Kim, Mike, Liana, John and Jacob.





Left: Phil with the always noble-looking Quinn.

Above: The always welcoming kitchen of the Jacquet-Morrison family! That's Eddie relaxing on the floor; Curtis holding Charlie; and Noelle and Liana posing for the camera!




Right: Curtis holding a so-not-impressed-looking Charlie. This photo always makes me smile!

Above: Standing second from right with friends (from left) John, Brian, Bob and Tim.


Left: Bob and Brian.

Above: Out to lunch at Victor's 1959 Cafe in Minneapolis with my dear friends Ken and Carol – September 13, 2012.

Above: My friend Raul by Minnehaha Creek, not far from my Minneapolis home.



Right: A snap of me taken by Raul. I bought the hat I'm wearing at this year's Minnesota State Fair!

Above and left: The dried-up bed of Minnehaha Creek – Saturday, September 15, 2012. It's been a rather brutal summer this year in Minnesota and across the U.S.

Right: With my dear friend Joan – September 2012.

Above and below: Duluth, MN – Sunday, September 16, 2012.

I traveled to Duluth from the Twin Cities with my friend Brian (left) as I had been invited to be part of a gathering of Catholics dedicated to defeating the 'marriage amendment.' I'll share more about this gathering in a later post.

Returning to the Twin Cities, it felt as though I brought back with me the cooler weather of northern Minnesota. And even though there is already colorful fall foliage to be seen – especially up around Duluth – they say the colors this year in Minnesota will be subdued due to the drought conditions we're experiencing. Still, what we have is quite beautiful, as can be seen in the picture at right.


Images: Michael J. Bayly.