brilliance from a lovely Republican

A year ago, especially, I'm not sure I would have been willing to admit there are probably some lovely Republicans out there. And then I met my friend, Erica. She is lovely, brilliant, kind, thoughtful, generous, beautiful, and there has been no indication that she hates people who are gay - a prerequisite for any true friend of mine. She has never once even pissed me off, even when I heard she liked Rudy Guiliani. She has a way about her. I adore her completely, and I am so pleasantly surprised with myself and with her that I feel like there is indeed hope for the world when she and I genuinely enjoy each other as much as we do.

Plus, she's a brilliant artist. She takes unbelievable photographs - some from around the world, and some right here at home. And then she writes about it. Well.

From her latest post:

So probably my very favorite place in Minneapolis is a pedestrian bridge spanning Hennepin Avenue. It's blue and yellow, steel arch, rusting if you cared to examine it closely. It overlooks the Basilica and the skyline and all the first-daters at the lush Sculpture Garden outside the Walker.

And all of those things are pleasant, but the real reason I adore the bridge is for the John Ashbery poem painstakingly typewritten across each of the painted steel beams - the stanzas leading you across the wooden planks, head cranked back, reading and oblivious to the intent traffic rushing below.

If you didn't take time to climb up there, you'd miss this amazing poem and that, that is what I love best.

These elegant lines tucked up in to the metal treetops of the city like a nest. Content in their own worth, at being overlooked for an occupation.