10 Observations About Cleveland From a Drained Brain
I came back from Cleveland on Tuesday. Now that I've had some time to swill about in a pool of self-analysis, here is what I think:
1. A lot of Cleveland looks like shit.
2. The parts that don't look like shit look like someone put an enormous amount of meticulous, handwringing passion into them.
3. Transportation in and around Cleveland is efficient and expedient.
4. Ummm, why the heck can't you get to the waterfront?
5. Cleveland isn't big enough for the East vs. West crap. Knock it off already!
And some personal observations:
1. To borrow Frank Jackson's phrase, I am Cleveland.
2. The building I lived in on Lake Avenue has been sold to a different management company. Metaphysically, it's not mine anymore, which makes me less sad than I would've expected.
3. You only have so much time to spend with people and places that are significant to you.
4. It's surprising to see who misses you, and how much.
5. I am utterly, utterly in love with Cleveland. I am struck with the love so deep it hurts, it hurts the way a freezing wind off the Great Lakes whips and burns clear through your ears on an otherwise sunny day. I love Cleveland like a friend who's gone crazy, a friend who I'm eternally chasing through a revolving door, a friend who is just so painfully far away from me I want to get off at the next exit and turn around and drive as fast as I can back to the reality that I really want. God, I just wanted to touch every brick in the park in front of the Old Stone Church, every violet growing weedily outside the abandoned Christian Science building at the corner of Lake and West 117th, every window of every empty storefront in the entire metro area. Cleveland needs someone to love it that much. It needs every grouchy nay-saying one of you to love it that much.
1. A lot of Cleveland looks like shit.
2. The parts that don't look like shit look like someone put an enormous amount of meticulous, handwringing passion into them.
3. Transportation in and around Cleveland is efficient and expedient.
4. Ummm, why the heck can't you get to the waterfront?
5. Cleveland isn't big enough for the East vs. West crap. Knock it off already!
And some personal observations:
1. To borrow Frank Jackson's phrase, I am Cleveland.
2. The building I lived in on Lake Avenue has been sold to a different management company. Metaphysically, it's not mine anymore, which makes me less sad than I would've expected.
3. You only have so much time to spend with people and places that are significant to you.
4. It's surprising to see who misses you, and how much.
5. I am utterly, utterly in love with Cleveland. I am struck with the love so deep it hurts, it hurts the way a freezing wind off the Great Lakes whips and burns clear through your ears on an otherwise sunny day. I love Cleveland like a friend who's gone crazy, a friend who I'm eternally chasing through a revolving door, a friend who is just so painfully far away from me I want to get off at the next exit and turn around and drive as fast as I can back to the reality that I really want. God, I just wanted to touch every brick in the park in front of the Old Stone Church, every violet growing weedily outside the abandoned Christian Science building at the corner of Lake and West 117th, every window of every empty storefront in the entire metro area. Cleveland needs someone to love it that much. It needs every grouchy nay-saying one of you to love it that much.
posted by Christine Borne at 5:57 PM
5 Comments:
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
Shalom Christine,
Anybody who loves Cleveland as much as you obviously do doesn’t deserve to have some upstart, grouchy nay-sayer and reverse carpetbagger exclude you from the list of female NEO bloggers.
Please accept my humble apology.
Shalom,
Jeff
4. Ummm, why the heck can't you get to the waterfront?
We have a waterfront? Where the heck is it? Must be down south somewhere. I never go very far down south.
*sigh*
Awesome. Simple awesome.
You love Cleveland the same way I do. This particular post got me and made my throat lump up a bit:
"I am utterly, utterly in love with Cleveland. I am struck with the love so deep it hurts, it hurts the way a freezing wind off the Great Lakes whips and burns clear through your ears on an otherwise sunny day."
That's just beautiful. :-)
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