In the ecstasy of the moments after the winning goal of the world cup, Andres Iniesta was outside of himself. Yelling, screaming, mad with adrenaline and victory, he stripped off his shirt in a popular gesture. But Iniesta had another shirt underneath that read Dani Jarque siempre con nosotros – Dani Jarque is always with us, a tribute to a teammate who died suddenly of a heart attack a year ago. Ecstasy meeting tragedy became a triumph. That’s the nature of our obligation to those who have gone on before us, a calling not just to the departed but to our better selves – and a deeper appreciation of the moments we have.
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Category Archives: Urban Life
Family Time
It’s a Monday holiday, and the kids are just getting going on brunch. It’s not all that special, but on a day when they can sleep in we can share a big meal together right away in the morning. Scallions and kielbasa are chopped, eggs stuffed into the blender, and a small debate ensues about what kind of spices go down early in the morning. A sprinkle of coriander and basil later, and the stove is gurgling with another family meal in the making.
Heaps of quantity time – and food – are what holidays and families are all about.
Car-ful Living
It had to happen one day, I guess. Relying on buses to get around is not a bad option in the city, but getting work and shuttling the kids around eventually made it necessary to buy a car. Joining the ranks of the car-ful wasn’t easy for me, but I was able to find a 1997 Ford Escort that set me back less than $1000, my running average price for a car over my lifetime. I may be consuming more gasoline than I did before, but the experience highlights just how wasteful our society is – and how much we could save if we tried even a little.
Public and Private
Like any good urban dispute, it seems simple enough on the surface. Along a stretch of golf course known as the Town and Country Club there is no sidewalk, but many people walk there. A well-worn dirt path to the bus stop seems out of place in the middle of the city, so paving it with concrete to look like the rest of Marshall Avenue is only logical. But is this something that the club should be charged $42,850 for – and be held responsible for keeping clean from now on? It won’t benefit them or their members, but this is how we build sidewalks in Saint Paul. A suit has been filed to stop it.
A court case over a sidewalk may seem trivial, but it’s a great illustration of how the public realm is a kind of neglected after-thought based on The Way Things Are™.
Nurses’ Strike
Yesterday Minnesota was home to the largest nurses’ strike anyone can remember – 12,000 nurses picketing 14 hospitals. There was a sea of red-shirted union members outside of United Hospital here in Saint Paul, including many from a new generation that hasn’t seen a labor action before. Today, they are back at work without a contract. The action was taken not for more pay or benefits but for something we all take for granted from a hospital – the nurses simply do not feel that the long hours they put in are reasonable or safe. I, for one, cannot believe that it has come to this.
Barataria - The work of Erik Hare 