Snow

We woke this morning to a real snow, flakes obscuring our view of the city beyond our window.  It did not inspire us to get out.  For sunny southerners, though, it was special.  We drank our coffee and texted pictures to family and friends as if we were seeing something no one had ever seen before, delivered in breathless disbelief.

It's just the way we are.

About an hour later, the skies cleared and the sun came out.  We showered and went downstairs to have our breakfasts.  And then it was time to go to work, Ili to her conference, me to the streets.  I decided to take my film Leica.  I'd forgotten how much fun it is.  You shoot and hope.  There is no looking.  The camera is light and better in the hands, and the shutter is quieter than a whisper.  I won't know if I got anything I like for some time, but I sure felt cool.

I took the Qline to the Detroit Institute of Art.  What a place.  It isn't the Met, of course, but it is truly wonderful.  I spent most of the day there walking from gallery to gallery taking phone pics of pieces I would send to my friends.  There was great Eastern, Middle Eastern, African, and Asian art on the first floor, and I spent a good deal of time wandering those galleries.  I've come to like the ancient arts more than modern.  And the art of the Renaissance forward fascinates me.

The main show on the second floor was Impressionism and Modernism.  It is all I have looked at since youth, and it is still am enamored, but familiarity, etc.

And I am surprised by something once in awhile.

After some hours, I had to take a break.  Art wears me out emotionally and museums wear me out physically.  I went to the coffee shop and ordered a cappuccino but I said espresso, and that is what I got.  I sat down and thought for a bit.  The sun was shining outside, a high, brilliant light, and I considered my choices.  I could look at more art or go and try to make some of my own.  I had already seen all the galleries but a few, and I didn't care much about them, so after a rest, I got my things and headed outside.

I decided to walk off the main street and look for something of interest, but the blocks were long and everything seemed very far away.  It was cold, of course, and the wind was blowing, but I walked quite a bit through abandoned lots and old buildings that were empty and/or for rent.

Once in a while I would see someone, but not very often.  Detroit is just weird.  There are no people on the street.  It is like a sci-fi movie.  All I have after two photo days are pictures of empty lots and buildings.  Walking around by myself with a camera, though, has been therapeutic.  Maybe I will be able to see again.