| Week One: |
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If you did not get an
update last month, please check out last month first.
July 2011 |
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| Summer is
Still Blooming |
| Better late than never, I looked out my
bedroom window the other morning and finally saw the morning glories
were beginning to bloom. For some reason when I first planted these
in the Spring, nothing grew and I finally planted another batch of
seeds. Needless to say, it took a long time to get these few vines
growing, so I'm very glad to see a few flowers. |
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| The zinnias I planted, in
the flower bed under the pear tree, are finally blooming. |
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| My good friend Bill and I
took a trip out of town the other day to get away for a while. We
went to the largest orchid grower/dealer in the entire USA and it's
out in the middle of nowhere South Carolina. We traipsed through
over two dozen huge greenhouses and saw orchids of all colors and
sizes. Some were quite ugly, while others were incredibly beautiful. |
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| Bill got me this lovely
orchid, which is still blooming several weeks later and looks
beautiful in the afternoon sun. |
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Bill also gave me some crepe myrtle
trees that he had started. Two will have white flowers and two will
have gorgeous blood red flowers. I am thinking about planting these
this fall, out of the front hill. Not only will they provide more
cover for the property from the road, but we'll be able to see the
beautiful blooms from here in the house. |
| If you look at the bottom right of the
crepe myrtle picture, you'll see these blanket flowers. Starting
from just little two inch pieces of plant in styrofoam cups, these
flowers are about 12 inches tall with 3 to 6 blooms. |
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Week Two: |
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| An
Unbelievable, Extraordinary Adventure |
Although I've never even
been to the Mississippi River, I'm getting ready to go on an
adventure that'll take me over the river and clear up to Seattle
Washington in the woods of northwestern America.
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First a bit of background
about how I got to take this trip. For many years I have been a
member at an HIV-support website, the AIDSMeds forum (http://poz.forums.com).
I've met a lot of good people there, gotten a lot of good
information, plus a lot of support (it was other members there
that helped contribute to Jim's cremation fund). I've tried to repay
that kindness with kindness of my own by giving back support to new
members, who seem to join daily , troubled by their own HIV diagnosis. |
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| I confess I often watch
out for new members who hail from Ohio and South Carolina, as I
often wonder if I might not only end up helping someone but finding
a friend somewhere near the places that I've called home. Although I
haven't met him in person yet, I did make a new friend (James) here
in South Carolina. It's just a shame though that he lives about 3
hrs. away. However, he says I was able to help him some when he had
questions and he's been very interested in the advocacy, prevention
and support work that I've been doing at
Catawba Care. |
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| For many years now, the
members at AIDSMeds have arranged a get-together, a gathering, for
any members who are able to attend. One year, they met in Boston,
another year in Toronto, another time in Mexico City and then in
London. This year, after the suggestion and election process, they
decided to meet in Seattle. |
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Because he wanted to do
something for me for the things I've been doing, James got airline
tickets and booked the room to take me along with him on this trip
to Seattle!!
 Isn't
he just the sweetest guy?!?!? |
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So early on the morning of
Wed Aug 17th, James and I will be flying out of Charlotte
and stopping over in Minneapolis on our way to the "Emerald City". |
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We'll be returning really
late next Mon Aug 22nd, so don't expect pictures (oh, you KNOW
there'll be lots of pictures!
LOL) until Wed or Thurs of next week. |
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Week Three: |
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| Nana turns 94! |
Although she's had a few problems in
this last year, another year has gone back and Nana has gotten
another year older. She's a pretty amazing person at 94 years old
now!
Her mind is good and she still drives. I can only hope to be in as
good of a shape as she is when I turn 94. |
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| Her nephew, Bob, who lives
down in Atlanta, was traveling through the area and stopped over for
Nana's birthday celebration. Those two spent some time catching up
on the family and genealogy. |
| Bob's wife Anne was there too. She is
quite a funny lady and I loved her deep Southern accent. |
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My aunt Beth came down from Durham for
the luncheon party also. For not having seen Beth is years and
years, I've been very fortunate to she her quite a bit in the last
two years. Her partner, Chris, wasn't able to come down this time;
but I'm sure we'll see her when the holidays roll in, in a couple of
months. |
| AidsMeds
Gathering 2011 in Seattle |
| OMIGOD! What an awesome time I had in
Seattle. I met quite literally some of the best people I've ever met
in my life and I know I had the best time of my life in probably 25
years. That's because for most of the trip I acted half my age - 25
years old and had a blast! |
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Week Four: |
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| Fish Fry at
Catawba Care |
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| There aren't as many
social events at Catawba Care now as I heard there were in the past;
but they did keep their annual Fish Fry. Luckily, I got back from
the trip to Seattle the day before, so I got a little bit of rest
and was able to attend. |
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| That's my friend Larry.
He's the one I helped move a couple months ago. He checked up some
on the dogs and the pool (no new tsunamis. WooHoo!)
while I was out of town. Notice that I'm wearing the cool, official
commemorative "AMG 2011" t-shirt. |
| Summer Yard
Pictures |
| We've got another big writing spider
hanging out in the yard this year. We never seem to have more than
one; but we always seem to have at least one. |
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The remaining pear tree is doing well
ever since I cut it's dead partner down - though the hole in the
scenery of yard makes it remember the other tree is gone. However,
it had no blooms and no pear at all this year. |
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| There are still a few
flowers blooming around the front and back yards. |
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| With a replant and a slow
start, the morning glories are making up for lost time now with a
lot of growth and a lot of flowers. |
| The Dragon Palm just loves living in SC |
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I've weaved in new branches and I've
cut new branches, and the trellis rose bush continues to grow like
mad. I guess I'll have to pull out the ladder and clippers and do
some more weaving and cutting soon. Sigh. |
| The garden isn't faring so well though.
Must of it has quit producing and has been dying off. I need to go
clear out parts of it and plant stuff that'll grow into the fall. |
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| The cucumber plants are
done, and the tomatoes have quit producing. |
| The bell peppers and butternut squash
have still been growing though and should still be producing some
vegetables before Summer ends. |
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| Summertime
Heat |
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Fall isn't here yet and it's still
Summer;
and that means it's still hot outside. |
| Thankfully there have been
anymore tsunamis in the backyard, so I'm still using the pool.
Although the pool does seem to be slipping towards the back part of
the yard. With some luck it'll hang in there just a few more weeks
and will last through this Summer. |
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| Daily Uncovering of the
Pool |
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| As you can see, my dancing
days from Seattle aren't over just because I'm back home. I always
wear my headphones while working around the yard (and yes, it was
hot enough to work around the yard in nothing but my boots and
speedo), so passers-by might catch me dancing about the yard at any
time that a kick-butt song comes on my player. |
| Charlotte
Gay Pride Festival |
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When I last lived in
Charlotte (circa 1985) having a gay pride festival in downtown
Charlotte would have been an occasion to get shot or beat up.
Thankfully these times they are a-changin'.
Over the past few years the annual pride event has been staged in
less public venues; but this year the event was moved to the streets
right downtown between Stonewall and Levine. |
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| Four long blocks,
stretching from the new Duke Energy building and the museums, were
lined with booths from vendors and gay-orientated or gay-owned
businesses. |
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While Hurricane Irene was
blowing up the coast, we had picture postcard weather
(even if we did have strong winds to contend with. LOL ) |
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| We were given a perfect
spot for our setup. We had a bus stop shelter for our backdrop, were
just down from one of the stages, and a long way from all the huge
crowd around the food vendors. We had to tie our sign board to the
shelter because of the high winds from Irene; and the shelter was a
perfect place to post our signs about the ADAP crisis in North and
South Carolina. |
| My buddy Bill came up from Chester to
help me work the booth for the first part of the day. And boy was I
glad he was there! We were swamped from the very beginning talking
to people about Catawba Care and our services, along with passing
out packs of condoms and talking about the ADAP crisis. |
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| Bill and Leatherman |
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There was only one downside to the event - religious interlopers.
Sadly First Baptist Church from downtown sponsored a rather creepy
invasion into the festival. Dressed in matching red t-shirts (with a
"www.godhas abetterway.com" logo), probably 75 people (often with
their children under 10) spread out through the crowd. These people
passed out rainbow postcards with a lot of words about their version
of god, and bottles of water labeled "Jesus loves you". |
| Others carried banners
listing all the type of sinners going to hell (idolaters,
fornicators, sports nuts, and homosexuals -write in a lovely flaming
font), while others stood around reading out loud from the Bible -
nothing in particular to no one in particular. |
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| Now my problem isn't
really with religion per se. With all that's happened to me over the
years, I totally understand how hard living life is, so I don't
begrudge anyone finding strength from wherever they can to get
through the times we live in. |
| However, how does reading the Bible out
loud do anything constructive? Sure the guy got to take an ego boost
by going back to church claiming he did some great deed for god by
looking like an insane person mumbling to himself on the street. Did
those other people actually believe that just handing out water to
strangers (strangers who I might note had the balls - ie
convictions - to be out and proud on the streets of a major Southern
city in the Bible belt) would miraculously make them give up their
"heathen" same-sex attractions? |
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Actually, I was more afraid that one of those whackos had poisoned
those water bottles. I was also more annoyed that they chose to
invade and interrupt a legal congregation of like-minded people. I
politely told them "No thanks for your tainted jesus-water", and
wondered what they would think if a crowd of t-shirted gays came
into their church the following morning. I don't know if any
demonstration laws were broke, or any illegal vending (with the
water) but I wish there had been more security to politely escort
these people out of the festival area. What they were doing was rude
and worthless. I'm sure they and their fellow church members are oh
so proud of themselves. I doubt god is though since I believe that
"vanity" really is one of those sins that makes him upset.
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The Gay Men's Chorus (along with my old high school buddy Bobby) was
out and proud at this event. |
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We saw one of our former Catawba Care Prevention Crew, Cecelio,
who left us not too long ago to go work for the Gaston County health
department. |
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How many people would you guess came to Pride Fest in Charlotte? I
guessed 3,742 off the top of my head; but sure didn't come close to winning. The official
first estimate is in the 30K range! |
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We were in an excellent part of the Festival. Just a few booths away
from one of the stages, nestled up against a sheltered bus stop, and
on the other end of the venue from the food and the huge mobs
clogging up that part of the Festival. |
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| After my shift at the
exhibition booth ended, Bill and I walked the Festival a bit. Being
a hot day on asphalt roads, it didn't take long for me to pull off
my shirt. Stopping back by the booth for a while, Leatherman in his
leather harness was not only a crowd pleaser but an attraction for
the table. Lots of people said hey and lots of people took pictures
- and a lot of people heard about Catawba Care, condoms, and the
ADAP crisis. |
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| Later that night, the Duke
Energy building got decked out in rainbow colors to celebrate
Charlotte Gay Pride. |
| More
Advocacy for Catawba Care |
| I'm glad I had that
vacation last week (though I wish I had gotten more rest. LOL)
because Catawba Care has got me jumping now. After the Gay Pride
event this past weekend, the clinic had me start up the week by
doing some peer counseling with a new client; followed on Tuesday
with another exhibition booth - this time down in Chester. Since the
agency serves three counties (and 4 if you count the work we do for
people in NC), it is good that we spend some of our time reaching
out to other communities than just Rock Hill where we are located. |
| The Chester branch of York Technical
College held it's annual "Welcome Back Blast" by holding a
mini-fair, and Catawba Care was there. Along with hospice, a few
banks, the Red Cross, and a transportation company, we were there
giving out information about the agency, the ADAP crisis, and free
HIV information along with free condoms. |
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| In situations like this, I
make my friends at Tell Them! proud by mentioning how condoms not
only stop HIV but can also prevent some other STIs and pregnancy. |
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| the exhibition booth |
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All the participants lined the main
corridor, so that all the students attending the first day of
registration and classes could walk by. I really like events where
the visitors have a check-list. The students could get signatures by
stopping at each time. Seven out of 10 signatures got them an entry
into a prize give-away. This arrangement helps guarantee us an
audience. And what a good audience it was! The students were very
responsive to hearing about our services. |
| Once again my buddy Bill (who actually
lives in Chester) came out to help me. And once again he was
incredible! Bill can talk to anyone, and talk to anyone is what he
does. Not only can he be pretty funny; but he uses that to get
people to listen to his important information about HIV and the ADAP
crisis. |
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