The Wild Reed: Out and About – Spring 2015 (Part II)

With summer now officially underway, I best get moving and share the second part of the spring installment of my Out and About 2015 series! (For Part I, click here.)

Of course, regular readers of The Wild Reed will be familiar with my "Out and About" series, one that I began in April 2007 as a way of documenting my life as an “out” gay Catholic man, seeking to be all “about” the Spirit-inspired work of embodying God’s justice and compassion in the Church and the world. I've continued the series in one form or another every year since – in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, and now into 2015.

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

Above: My good friend Raul, standing beside a part of Minnehaha Creek that's walking distance from my home in south Minneapolis – Sunday, May 31, 2015. Raul took the opening image of me by Minnehaha Creek that same afternoon.

Above and right: On the afternoon of Wednesday, April 29, I joined with approximately 1500 other people in a solidarity rally and march for the people of Baltimore and in memory of Freddie Gray, who died of spinal injuries while in police custody in Baltimore. The rally was held at Minneapolis' Gold Medal Park and was organized by Black Lives Matter Minneapolis.

For more commentary and images, along with updates on the investigation into Freddie Gray's death, click here.

Above: Minnehaha Creek – May 2015. I was definitely in the right place at the right time when I snapped this picture!

Lots of times spent this past spring with good friends enjoying delicious food, good conversation . . . and great wine! Pictured in the photo above are my friends (from left) Joan, Steve, Carla and Raul. Pictured at right, friends Carol, Ken, Kathleen, Sue Ann and Brigit. Pictured seated around the table below are (from left) Tim, Noelle, Val, Phil, Brittany, John, Jenny and Jacob.

Above: On Sunday, May 3, my friends Tim and Raul and I attended the 41st annual In the Heart of the Beast Theatre's MayDay parade in south Minneapolis. This year's theme was "And Still We Rise." It was inspired by Maya Angelou's poem, "Still I Rise," and by the local and national work of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Section One of MayDay 2015's parade story was entitled "Ecstatic Origins" and celebrated the diverse "fruits" of the Tree of Life – animal and plant life in all its wondrous and beautiful diversity – including the kangaroo, energetically embodied by the young man at right.

For more images and commentary on this year's MayDay parade, click here and here.

Above: A group of young spectators at this year's MayDay parade – May 3, 2015.

In early May I traveled to Georgia to visit my good friend Phil (right), who lives in Augusta. As well as spending time in "the Garden City" (as Augusta is known), we also visited Savannah and Atlanta (above).

For more images and commentary on my visit to Georgia, click here.

I really do believe that my friend Raul has one of the best views in Minneapolis! I mean, just look at the beautiful vista (above) from his apartment in Uptown.

Raul lives right on the shores of Lake Calhoun, and on the evening of Tuesday, June 9 (left) I visited him and took some amazing photographs at sunset. To view these images and to learn why that day was special in Twin Cities meteorological history, click here.

Above and below: Early, mid and late spring in Minnesota.

Right: With my good friends Kathleen and Cheryl. We're pictured at the season premiere concert of the Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) – May 17, 2015.

The occasion was also the first MPO concert with new Music Director and Conductor, Alexander Platt (pictured below).

My good friend Kathleen (right) is the MPO's Principal Second Violinist.

The Minnesota Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1993 by Kevin Ford, a gay man who had a vision of a gay and lesbian orchestra that would build community and fellowship through the performance of classical music. Notes the MPO website:

Although Kevin succumbed to complications from HIV-AIDS in 1995, the organization he created continues to grow and diversify today. The MPO includes players from a variety of backgrounds and orientations who share a commitment to inclusivity, non-discrimination, and to the performance of works by under-represented composers.

Above: Spring time fun!

Above: Darling little Amelia – May 2015.

Above: Breakfast with my good friend Pete. It's a regular Thursday morning tradition, you know!

Above: Eddie!

Above: The big news for Minnesota Catholics this spring was the June 15 resignation of Archbishop John C. Nienstedt.

Nienstedt, along with Auxiliary Bishop Lee Piché, resigned in the wake of clergy sex abuse coverup charges filed against the archdiocese.

For the Catholic Coalition for Church Reform's response to the archbishop's resignation, click here.

For the latest updates (as of June 19) on the investigation into Archbishop Nienstedt's alleged "sexual improprieties" with priests and seminaries, click here.

Above: On June 19 my housemate Tim and I hosted a "Welcome Back to Minnesota" party for our friend Phil (pictured with me at left).

For the past two years Phil has been living and working in Georgia, where as I noted previously, I visited him at the beginning of May.