City

The city is a fabulous metropolis of new discovery worthy of many photos and words. It is one of the few places that melds all classes of people together: business with street bum, office casual with blue collar. During the day, this booming mecca screams melting pot; at night it's a virtual ghost town, full of dark corridors and desperation.




I discovered a little diner today that serves baba ghanoush - my favorite Middle Eastern side dish made from eggplant. I walked in to smell a conglomeration of fresh baked pita bread, deli meats, onions, and the lingering scent of coffee left from the morning.

A man with a mustache and a custodian's uniform sits scratching lotto tickets, hoping for the day he can quit his job. Next to him are two women, both obese and in drab khaki office attire, scarfing down deli subs while talking about the last episode of Sex In The City they saw. A family of African Americans eats lunch while white men and women in suits scurry by. I wonder what they're here for. Clearly a family can't be doing anything good down here - not with all these courthouses and suits running around. This is the land of lawyers, courtrooms and cops.



I love not only the sights but the sounds and the smells here.



There's always something buzzing: I walk by a woman reading biblical passages into a loud speaker for the National Week of Prayer.



Suddenly a black man sits down on a park bench across from her with a boom box blasting "Play That Funky Music White Boy"; he dances, his colorful attire a bright blur in the field of cement gray, oblivious of the need for prayer. People stand in doorways in heels and skirts, smoking cigarettes on their lunch breaks, sucking down their fix, the stale smell of nicotine rising into the air along side the buildings.



This is the city where I work. There's always something going on here, and from my work perspective, it's usually not good. But outside my cubicle, it's interesting and lively.

I love going home to my little plot of land and dogs.


I wouldn't trade it for the world, unless I could have more land and be further from the city! I'd certainly never want to live in the city downtown. But it's definitely a nice place to investigate. And take pictures. :-)