Toledo and Beyond

A few weekends ago Chris and I embarked on a trip to Toledo, Ohio for the Underground Lit Fest. This was created to honor our late friend, Brian Fugett, after his untimely passing earlier this year. This was a special event that pulled in writers from all across the country–California, Alabama, New York, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Jersey, and more. Fifteen states were represented at this series of readings which would not have been possible without Michele McDannold and Dan Denton.

It was a whirlwind weekend of packed room readings and the bizarre feeling of being in another world. For me, it was a chance to meet writers and friends who I have talked to online for 20 years. It was something else to be able to give them a hug and sit down to breakfast and share a conversation. This is what makes readings the best. I spent a lot of time living in the moment and therefore forgot to get very many pictures of me together with my friends, but what I have come to realize is that the meeting isn’t negated by the fact that there isn’t photographic evidence.

The first night we were treated to local Toledo poets reading at The Attic on Adams and that was followed by an open mic. It was standing room only in this area, shoulder to shoulder. There is something powerful about being crammed into a room with people who love poetry and love finding new ways to deliver the world as they see it. There is still a big spoken word crowd in Toledo and we were treated to that the first night. I’ve been writing for 40 years and never did master the art of memorizing an entire poem, so to watch these poets flow was pretty amazing. Huntor Prey really stood out and was masterful. You should check him out.

Chris and I do what we do best whenever we go places and that was jangle around. Toledo has a ton of murals everywhere, even in places you think they might not get appreciated. As with any Rust Belt town, there are a lot of empty buildings and homeless, but sandwiched in were some real gems. Adams Street is host to some fun shops and restaurants like The Dow, Handmade Toledo, and Poco Loco Mexican Restaurant in addition to the previously mentioned The Attic on Adams. We had fun searching through the antique store hoping to find gifts for our girls and then looking at the talent at Handmade Toledo. Chris’s dinner at Poco Loco came served in half a damn pineapple! I had a chimichanga that was almost as good as my mothers, but not quite. I took for granted how good they were as a kid that is for sure.

We stayed at Library Suites Hotel which we chose due to its central location of all the venues we would have to get to as I didn’t want to bother driving around and trying to find parking. It was located directly across from the library on Madison and I regret that we didn’t get to go in the library as it looked beautiful. The theme of Toledo was “stairs” as we seemed to find every last one in town. This place was a two floor walk up, but spacious with a king size bed, kitchenette, and office nook which allowed me to do some bead work while Chris slept.

The thing that was most baffling to me was how empty of cars the streets were for most of the weekend in the city center. It almost felt like a ghost town to me. Where we stayed did have a lot of homeless and it was heart breaking. I gave a hat, scarf, and water to a woman huddled in a doorway and my leftover food to another on the way home from the first event. I had an overwhelming gratitude for the abundance in my life knowing that could be any of us at any time with the way the world is going.

The main reading on Saturday was at Culture Clash Records who had such and amazing space with a stage and equipment already set up and a person to help with that equipment. It was such a smooth reading. Who doesn’t love a poetry-record store mash up? We definitely supported them with some album and CD purchases as we always need new music to listen to in our art studio and as much art as we have been doing, we have listened to almost everything we already own.

This day had a book fair where you could purchase many of the writers collections and it was where I got my fill of hugs from old friends and chatted with new ones. I am not a big crowd person for long periods of time. It makes me a little less social so I apologize to everyone if I seemed a bit stand offish. There was a lot of emotions happening with meeting friends, thinking about Brian, and just being in awe that the whole event came together so well. We had a great MC for the event, Pella Felton, who really infused joy into introducing us all to the crowd. It was six hours of poetry in a row. Bless Chris for sitting through it. Focusing for that long is hard for anyone these days.

Sunday we woke up to snow which was a bummer for everyone traveling back to their fine states, but we were staying an extra day to explore. We had plans to check out one of their great Metro Parks to go hiking, but the weather did not permit and as always, I had a back up plan. We spent the afternoon wandering around the Toledo Art Museum. This place is a rarity in the fact that it is free for everyone to enter. How often do you see that these days? The only thing that cost anything were the special exhibits and you could see both of them for ten dollars each.

We wandered the collection and saved the special exhibit: The Art of the Algorithm for a palate cleanser between classic art and modern art. It did not disappoint. As an artist, I love making pieces that can be touched, interacted with, or rearranged. The joy of this idea came to me in 2011 when I visited the National Museum of Art in Ottawa that had an immersive exhibit of interactive art. It was inspirational and has stuck with me all these years as one of the most memorable museum trips of my life. This exhibit mirrored that previous adventure but in a more digital way. There were plenty of stations that you could use the artists computer driven algorithm to create your own pieces of art which would then be displayed until someone else made their own art. There were side rooms with special functions and even one where we got to sit and create art on paper and hang it up.

What I loved about this was sitting across from Chris doing the same exact activity and coming up with completely different results. I think I also love prompt poetry for the same reason. When you are given a constraint (a prompt or a sheet with 16 circles on it) the results is a culmination of the life you’ve lived and how it has shaped you. Chris is free form and bold, I am detailed and exacting. These are great things to know about each other as artists and writers, but more important as people who love each other. You should definitely see this exhibit if you are in town.

After a quick pit stop home due to bad weather, we headed up to Rochester, NY to stay with our good friends Lisa and Evan, and to see a concert on Chris’s bucket list–Billy Strings. It was a sold out show at the War Memorial (about 13,000) and let me tell you that I had not expected this show from a bluegrass performer. They have the most amazing light show crew I can tell you that. The music was fantastic despite being in the literal nosebleeds (more stairs). I had been to small bluegrass shows in my lifetime, but this was a spectacle. That boy sure can pick.

Prior to the show, we wandered around the East Ave/Park Ave area for record shopping at The Record Archive and then dinner at Sinbad’s with some delicious ice cream from Pittsford Dairy to top it off. I loved the wandering around but loved hanging out with Lisa and Evan more. It isn’t often that I get to see them since they moved to Rochester and it was sweet of them to open up their home for us to stay overnight. They made us breakfast in the morning before we headed home and I have to say my heart is pretty damn full going into the winter season. I’m leaning into this year. Resting and reading, making art, staying in contact with friends, and giving gratitude to all the action in my life in all the months previous.