23 October 2007

I feel one coming on soon.... a la Niobe


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Originally uploaded by crunchy granola
Niobe invited her readers to leave comments in her own style. I haven't gotten around to commenting there, but it did inspire this post, which is written about a photo from summer 2006. Curious Girl had a Niobe-like touch with the camera that day.

A summer day, humidity wrapping itself around us like a blanket, although Curious Girl didn't care how sweaty she got in the sling. Cars drove by noisily, running between the gentrified harbor and an edgier older neighborhood, crossing an industrial area on the way. Some friends were held up at gunpoint just a few blocks from here, heading back to the hotel around midnight.

In the morning, people are sleeping. It's a weekend summer day, and few are stirring. We walk, and we see it: the Blue Moon Cafe. The sign seems magical, a symbol of whimsical cheer flowing out onto the rather sad sidewalk.

I can't stop thinking about our friends. They're all fine, although scared, and taking taxis more than usual to get around today. They lost their wallets and their cash, and their jewelry. One saved her wedding ring, quickly stepping on it when the muggers asked them all to toss their jewelry on the sidewalk. She covered it with her foot, and no one noticed.

What about you? What streets have you walked between sadness and charm? What jewelry would you seek to hide? Or would you?

2 comments:

niobe said...

Brava!

elswhere said...

I just got the reference in your title...I'm slow, but I get there.

lovely photo, and lovely post.