Out and About – Spring 2018 (Part II)

Friends, here is the second part of the spring installment of my Out and About 2018 series! (For Part I, click here.)

Spring 2018 got off to a cold and snowy start here in Minnesota. We experienced, for instance, the coldest April 6 in the Twin Cities in 145 years! Then on April 14 we experienced the Spring Blizzard of 2018.

That's my friend Joey at right, cleaning off his car of ice and snow before going to work – April 14, 2018.

Above: The spring thaw begins! – April 22, 2018.

Above: My friend Deandre, just chillin' with a cat.

On the evening of Monday, April 30, my dear friends Ken and Carol hosted a lovely dinner for myself and a number of our mutual friends.

Above (from left): Kathleen, Brigid, Carol, Ken, and Sue Ann.


Right: With my friend Kathleen – April 30, 2018.

Above: Carol and Ken.




Left: Brigid and Sue Ann – April 30, 2018.

Above: The 44th annual In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre's MayDay parade in Minneapolis – Sunday, May 6, 2018. This year's theme was "What You Feed, Grows! (It's All About Love)."

Right: With my friend Mahad at the MayDay parade.

For more images and commentary on MayDay 2018, click here and here.

Above: Standing with the Prayer Tree – Friday, May 4, 2018. My friend Raul snapped this pic. (And like in the previous picture with my friend Mahad, I'm wearing my Black Panther t-shirt!).

For more images from this beautiful spring day by Minnehaha Creek, click here.

Above: On Mother's Day (Sunday, May 13), my boyfriend Brent (right) hosted a lovely lunch for his mum and other members of his family.

Above: Little Amelia welcomes the return of spring!

Above: Amelia, the dragon girl.

Above: Mother's Day dinner at the home of my friends Noelle and John.

Above: With Brent – May 13, 2018. Note to self: Check your hair before posing with Brent, as his hair is always so immaculate!



Right: With friends Alicia and Scott – May 13, 2018.

Above: Friends Ben, Phil, and Dee – Sunday, May 13, 2018.

On May 14 I was invited to provide the opening blessing at the annual TRUST Meals on Wheels Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon. I'm pictured above at this event with friends Gretchen and Bob.

From June 2011 until June 2017 I served as a site coordinator with TRUST Meals on Wheels. For images and commentary from the farewell reception that my colleagues at TRUST hosted for me last June, click here.

Above: Deandre and Brent doing a spot of spring gardening – Saturday, May 26, 2018.

Above: Deandre, hard at it!

Above: A great portrait shot of my good friend Brian – Saturday, June 2, 2018.



Left: With Brian at Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis. We were there for the Minnesota Orchestra's June 2 "Bernstein and Walton" concert.

Above and right: My friends Hugh and David hosted the third Queer Movie Night on Sunday, June 3, 2018. They chose the 2017 drama God's Own Country to view and discuss.

Directed by Francis Lee, God's Own Country stars Josh O'Connor and Alec Secareanu. The plot follows a young sheep farmer in Yorkshire whose life is transformed by the arrival of a Romanian migrant worker. Since its release, God's Own Country has received critical acclaim. It holds a 99% approval rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The site's critical consensus reads: "A quiet, moving rumination on loneliness and newfound intimacy, God's Own Country marks an outstanding directorial debut for Francis Lee." Ed Potton, writing in The Times (of London), gave the film four stars out of five and described it as "splendid" and "a potent film, a Yorkshire Brokeback Mountain."

For more about our Queer Movie Night series, click here and here.

Above: David and Hugh – June 3, 2018.

Above: The view of downtown Minneapolis from David and Hugh's apartment.

Above: Omar, Brent, and Kathleen – June 3, 2018.

Above: Brent and I with friends Omar, Pete, and Jeffrey – June 3, 2018.

My friend Mahad, pictured above at the shop of Dave the Pie Guy, Tuesday, June 5, 2018, and, right, at Merlins Rest Pub, Sunday, June 10, 2018.

Mahad would have to have one of the best smiles around, wouldn't you say?

Above and left: On the afternoon of Sunday, June 10, Mahad and I spent time in an area of urban wilderness close to the Winchell Trail, a largely unpaved trail that winds about 2.5 miles along the west bank of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, from Franklin Avenue to Minnehaha Park. It follows what was once an Indian trail, and is mostly hidden.

For more images and commentary about our time at this beautiful spot in south Minneapolis, click here.

Above: Mahad – June 10, 2018.

On the evening of Friday, June 15, 2018 my friends Joan and Matt hosted a lovely dinner party in the famous kitchen of their Mendota Heights home!

Above (from left): Brent, Kurt, Matt, Joan, George, John, and Cesar.

Right: With Cesar and Brent.

Above: A lovely shot of Kurt and Cesar -- June 15, 2018.

Above: On Sunday, June 17, 2018, I joined with several hundred other people in a protest organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee. This protest was against the Trump administration’s border crossing policy, which had forcibly separated more than 2,000 immigrant children from their parents.

Left: With my friend Sue Ann. (I'm wearing my Buffy Sainte-Marie t-shirt.)


For more images and commentary on this event, click here.

NEXT: Out and About – Summer 2018

Spring 2018 Wild Reed posts of note:
• Thoughts on Queer Cinema
• The God from the House of Bread: A Bridge Between Christianity and Paganism
• Congratulations, Buffy
• The Student-Activists of 2018 – Leading Us to the Future
• Easter Bodiliness
• Spring's Snowy Start
• Celebrating Al Green, Soul Legend
• The Spring Blizzard of 2018
• Happy Birthday, Dad!
• What a Difference Four Days Can Make
• Let's Dance
• Welcoming the Return of Spring
• Beltane: Casting Off the Darkness and Celebrating the Light
• Umberto and Roberto: Love in Motion
• In the Garden of Spirituality – David Richo
• Quote of the Day – May 8, 2018
• Deconstructing Childish Gambino's "This Is America"
• "What You Feed, Grows! (It's All About Love)" – MayDay 2018 (Part 1)
• "What You Feed, Grows! (It's All About Love)" – MayDay 2018 (Part 2)
• A Longing and a Prayer
• Quote of the Day – May 15, 2018
• Reclaiming the Power of Male Touch
• Spring Blooms
• The NFL: "A Modern Example of Nakedly Racist Authoritarianism in America"
• Something to Think About – May 27, 2018
• Yeah, You Know You've Got It
• Interiors
• Meeting (and Embodying) the Lover God
• The Gorgeous One
• Jeremy Scahill on the Historical Context of the Trump Administration's "Pathologically Sick" Anti-Immigrant Agenda
• Time By the River
• Michelangelo Signorile on the Rebellious Purpose of Queer Pride
• Opposing the Trump Administration's Inhumane Treatment of Immigrant Families

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Out and About – Spring 2018 (Part I)
• Out and About – Winter 2017-2018
• Out and About – Autumn 2017
• Out and About – Summer 2017
• Out and About – Spring 2017

Images: Michael J. Bayly. (With thanks to my friend Mahad Abdullahi for the opening image.)