Above and left: Minnesotans United for All Families' Freedom to Marry Day rally at the State Capitol – February 14, 2013. That's the Catholics for Marriage Equality MN banner suspended from the highest balcony!
For more images and commentary, click here.
Above: On Saturday, March 2, 2013, while driving on I-94E from Minneapolis to St. Paul, I was involved in an accident. A young man driving two lanes over hit a patch of black ice, lost control, and T-boned my car, a 2000 Pontiac Bonneville. My vehicle spun around 180 degrees and ended up facing oncoming traffic. Thankfully, this all took place near where Hwy 280 merges into 94, and so I was able to drive off onto the wide medium strip where I called 911. Two other accidents took place at that same spot in the course of 30 minutes. Later, I was able to drive home, though both driver side doors were inoperable.Heeding the advice of friends, I saw a doctor the following Monday. After I described the accident to him, he told me he was amazed that I hadn't experience whiplash, and said I must be a very relaxed driver! The extent of my injuries was some deep bruising on my upper left arm, the result of the side air bag being deployed at the moment of impact. I waited for about a week to find out if the other driver's insurance company was willing to pay the cost of repairing my car (approx. $3500) or declare it totaled. I was really hoping for the former as I discovered that I was quite attached to this car!
On Thursday, March 14, 2012, my friends Brian and Rick accompanied me to Lehmanns Auto in Minneapolis to collect the last of my belongings from my car. With its frame compromised, my car had been declared totaled by the other driver's insurance company. I agreed to the $3,675 settlement amount they offered. They now owned the car.
This meant, of course, that I now needed to start looking for a new car – an undertaking about which I wasn't particularly enthused.
Above: Roman Catholic Womanpriest Monique Venne addresses the media at the March 12 "People's Conclave" outside the chancery offices of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis.
Organizers of the event noted that:
We gather on the occasion of the Papal Conclave and prayerfully ask the servant leadership of our Church: Where are the women? Where is the laity? Where are LGBT folks? Where are the poor? Where are the survivors of clergy sex abuse? Where is the Holy Spirit?
Left: With Democratic State Representative Karen Clark – Minnesota State Capitol, St. Paul, March 12, 2013.It was a big day at the Minnesota State Capitol on Tuesday, March 12, 2013, one that saw marriage equality legislation passed by both the Minnesota Senate Judiciary Committee (by 5-3) and the Minnesota House Civil Law Committee (by 10-7). A full House and Senate vote on this legislation is now expected sometime very soon. As executive coordinator of Catholics for Marriage Equality MN, I was honored to offer testimony in support of the House version of the bill during the House Civil Law Committee hearing of March 12.
For more images and commentary on this historic day, click here.
Right: With friends Lisa and Brent
Above: My young friends Milo (right) and Maya, with whom I saw the movie Oz the Great and Powerful (in 3D!) at the Mall of America in mid-March. It's a movie I very much enjoyed and one that I highly recommend.
Sr. Rose Pacatte of the National Catholic Reporter liked it too, noting in her March 12 review that:The topic of what it means to be a person of character, to choose others before self, to do the right thing when no one is looking is the central premise of the film. . . . Family is another plot thread that weaves through the narrative, from the broken family through outside forces to those flaws and choices that can damage a family from the inside. Families can heal and be healed when goodness and hope, shown through the actions of caring people, prevail in a society. Community and nonviolence as a theme grows naturally from [the film's] narrative and with the absence of direct violence, though the threat of it lurks. There is peril and darkness, but the "pro-social" group devises creative ways to meet the challenges they face through nonviolence.
I take this opportunity to extend a big thank you to everyone who made my experience of finding a new car such a relatively hassle-free one! I especially want to thank Marie and Chris for their help in locating the car I eventually bought; Beth and Cory for the loan of a vehicle as I looked for my new car; Noelle and Tom for all their helpful advice; and William and Steve and my parents Gordon and Margaret Bayly for their thoughtful and generous support!
Above: Friends Curtis, Liana, Eddie and Fred – March 2013.
Left: With my good friend Noelle – March 2013.
Above: Friends(from left) Val, Noelle, Mike, Carmen and Mark – March 2013.Right: A lovely photo of my friends Mike and Kim.
Above: Eddie getting some shut-eye.
Above: On Saturday, April 6, 2013, Michael Crosby, ofm spoke at Call To Action Minnesota's Annual Conference. His topic was "Arising from the Ashes: Birth of a New Community."Right: Fr. Mike Tegeder, who received a special award at the Call to Action conference for his social justice work.
Above: Spring snow in Minnesota! For more images, click here.
We're dressed up for the special gathering we hosted that celebrated the 74th anniversary of the birth of the late, great British pop/soul singer Dusty Springfield (1939-1999). A number of guests were, like us, dressed in the fashions of the 1960s and 1970s – the decades of Dusty's heyday! It was a fun night.
Above left: With my friend Kathleen.
Above: With my friends Brent and Lisa – April 20, 2013.Right: With my dear friend Joan.
I should say that the jacket I'm wearing is Iranian and was lent to me by a friend. I have it on good authority that it was owned and worn by an actual hippie of the late '60s-early '70s!
Above: My friends Joey and Kathleen – Sunday, April 21, 2013. Regular readers of The Wild Reed would know that over the years Kathleen, Joey and I have traveled together to a number of destinations, including Kansas City, Wisconsin, St Louis, and Trempealeau Mountain. In June we're heading out to the Black Hills of southwestern South Dakota.Left: Relaxing by Minnehaha Creek – Saturday, April 27, 2013. I was out and about with my friend Tim, celebrating the end of the very long winter we experienced here in the Twin Cities. For more images, click here.
Above: With my friends Tim and Joan – Saturday, April 27, 2013.
See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
The End of a Very Long Winter
Spring Snow
A Winter Walk Along Minnehaha Creek
Threshold Musings
Out and About – December 2012
Out and About – Autumn 2012
Out and About – Summer 2012
Out and About - Spring 2012 (Part 1)
Out and About – Spring 2012 (Part 2)
Out and About – Spring 2012 (Part 3)
Out and About – Winter 2012
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