Home (for a little while), Sweet Home

Every time I return to Jax I am impressed by the view. From a couple of thousand feet up the winding waterways look like crazy Hot Wheels tracks, tripping over one another in a race to the ocean. The vast green welcome mat of the longleaf pine, blending to a sandy white to an endless indigo. The sky is bluer here, and more vast. Okay, it's no utopia. I am a realist. But I've visited most every corner of the continental 48, and few places compare. Of course, the people outshine the landscape, from those waiting for me at home, to the friends we've met through teaching, chorale, and our growing theater family.

Sometimes, when we travel, people will ask where I'm from, unable to place the accent. If' I'm traveling with the family, the husband will say Jacksonville, but quickly follows it with the native New Yorker title he is so proud to wear. I'm proud of that too, but I usually just say Jacksonville. It's my home.

331/365 Black Friday Tree Lighting

They said there were more than 70,000 lights on the tree. They said my daughter was there with the D.A. chorus and orchestra programs. They said (when the microphones were working) that there would be a light show one hour after the fireworks. We saw little and heard even less. The Jacksonville Landing's Tree Lighting was a mob scene, only worsened by the dancing of Jaxson DeVille with a local news anchor during the Hallelujah Chorus. Oy.

204/365 Jacksonville- Not that bad.

Jacksonville isn't perfect. I'm not thrilled with the politics, and I'd definitely appreciate a bit more ethnic diversity. We could also use a diner and a decent bagel. But my travel to other parts of the country leaves me wondering..don't these people know there are better places? Sometimes I want to say, "Hey y'all, the road that got me in here also leads out!" This photo should be a lovely vista on the banks of the majestic Lake Michigan, were it not for the huge power plants belching ugly, smelly smoke. Our outdoor dining was under a toxic cloud, and my appreciation of the sunset on the lake was interrupted by my worrying about my lungs. All in all, Jacksonville isn't too bad. Lovely beaches, a river making a comeback, some beautiful foliage... not that bad.

129/365 Big Culture in the Little City

Today I chatted with multimedia visual artists, rehearsed a Sondheim musical, and saw a play that examined socio-economic and racial discrepancies while integrating the dialog from the balcony in Romeo and Juliet and from Desdemona's murder in Othello. No, I wasn't back in New York. I was in Jacksonville. There are some salmon swimming upstream in this sea of red and righteousness.

46/365 Another Race, Another Porta Potty

We finished the National Breast Cancer half-marathon, and I think we shaved 10-15 minutes off last month's time @ the Disney half. Jacksonville weather came through as the sun came up around mile 8, just after the turnaround at Jax Beach. Two of our favorite people cheered for us on the course, inspiring us to keep moving (shout out to MB and CB). The race was fabulously organized, with a well-stocked runners' village offering amenities before and after the race. Evan is pictured here after an especially delightful portalet experience. They even had hand washing stations, soap and paper towels!