Kate's Point of View

Developing a Sense of Community, On Foot

On December 16, 2016

Here in Cincinnati, it’s cold outside. That awful kind of cold where you start trying to brainstorm ways to add more layers to your day’s outfit. Where you feel your eyes starting to freeze shut as soon as you walk outside. Where cold gives way to numb so quickly, you aren’t sure if you’re okay. It’s also getting dark earlier in the evenings, which is a winning combination.

Last Spring I transitioned my commute to work from being in a car to walking. I live less than two miles from work, so it’s easily walkable. Because my drive is all city driving and takes me through many intersections where I am apt to catch red lights, my travel to work increased by only 14 minutes, from 18 minutes to 32.

I love walking to work. I’m sort of obsessed with it. I end up going through Over-the-Rhine each day, which is an area quickly being gentrified overhauled. I can truly say that every day I noticed a new thing I think is beautiful, be it architecture, murals, people or plants. It’s also been a nice way to ready myself for the upcoming workday or decompress from a long day while I head home.

During the six months I spent walking to work, I made friends with some folks renovating a local restaurant so it could re-open after a fire. I added in a daily stop to say hello to an adorable dog and an entertaining shop owner. I met a child who calls himself Batman. I feel like I became a recognizable addition to the daily comings and goings of the neighborhood and was able to learn a little more about my community.

A photo posted by Kate (@katespointofview) on Nov 1, 2016 at 2:14pm PDT

Despite my intense love of the walk, I also love myself and so, for my own safety, I had to switch over to the city bus when it started getting dark in the evening. And now that the temperatures are in the single digits when I wake up, my morning commute is also via the bus. I hear people knock the Cincinnati bus system pretty often, but I have found it to be wonderful. Their app works great, the drivers have been helpful, the buses clean and I am easily getting to and from where I need to go.

A few days ago I messed up reading the bus schedule and didn’t want to wait around for the next one. I knew Wonder Boy was downtown so started making my way towards him. Along the 12 block walk, I talked to a woman about her dogs’ cute outfits. I heard a man make one of the funniest insults I’ve heard in a long while. I spoke with another woman who was trying to figure out bus schedules. I cut down a different path than I normally take and admired what has to be one of the cities tiniest parks.

When I got into Wonder Boy’s car, I realized what it is I love about walking to work and walking throughout the city that I certainly didn’t get in my car and I’m also not getting on the bus. I was part of the community. I miss that sense of community and the interactions that came with it.

I look forward to warmer weather and sunnier days when I can rejoin the community I so love.

Reflection

By Kate

On September 7, 2016

In photography

This. Sometimes all you need is some time staring at the ocean to get recentered. In a few days, this is all I’ll see.

Nimrod: Not the insult you might initially think

By Kate

On July 18, 2016

In books

I’m reading The Moon by Night, a 1957 novel by Joy Packer, and there is a character, a native South African, who goes by the Americanized name Nimrod. I read that and was like, damn is this book racist. So racist! And, to be fair, it totally is. And xenophobic.

I’ve struggled to find novels set in Africa, though, and the way Packer describes the wilderness of South Africa is beautiful. So I’ve continued to read. (The book, which I bought at a used book sale from the library, also smells all musty and old, which is a definite added bonus.) After a while, two characters are discussing Nimrod and one tells the other that Nimrod selected the name himself. I thought that sounded pretty weird. Later, we learn that Nimrod is a pretty good name because of “Nimrod the Hunter.”

Nimrod the Hunter?

It turns out that Nimrod is referenced in the Bible as the great-grandson of Noah. The Bible says he was “a mighty hunter before the Lord.” So to call someone Nimrod is to call someone a great hunter.

There is (unsubstantiated but much cited) lore around the word that states that in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, Bugs sarcastically refers to his nemesis Elmer Fudd as a nimrod, and the meaning shifted. Forevermore. No longer is nimrod a compliment. I don’t know if that’s the real reason, but I like it if it is.

My book sis still racist. It’s still xenophobic. But it’s also teaching me a lot about South Africa and a little bit of etymology.

Save

Great inventions are the result of hard work, which we often hear, but also of resilience to keep trying after failing.

Failure and Innovation: Two concepts with a lot of overlap

By Kate

On July 12, 2016

In books

On my walks to work I’m listening to The Wright Brothers by David McCullough and boning up on my aviation and Dayton knowledge. I’m also gaining appreciation for the amount of failure that laid the groundwork for flight. So. Much. Failure. And that, by the way, I mean as a compliment.

Man’s ability to fly reshaped the world as we know it. It means we can travel to more places more quickly. It means we can transfer goods and services more easily. It means we can bomb the crap out of somewhere from the air.

I don’t know that I can prioritize one of those over the other.

To get to this place where we can hop in a plane and deliver ourselves, our product or our bombs, two brothers from Ohio tried out a lot of things. They withstood a ton of mockery from people who thought they were wackadoo. I’m listening to McCullough’s reading of this book and grimacing at some of the crash stories. The only way to find out if a plane will hold you and be steered by you is to try it out. And if it doesn’t work? You’re nose-diving into a sand dune in Kitty Hawk.

A running thought I’ve been having throughout The Wright Brothers is that the story of failure is an excellent one. Great inventions are the result of hard work, which we often hear, but also of resilience to keep trying after failing. That’s not a new notion for me, but it’s not one I hear a lot about.

I would love if more stories about inventions and innovations include details about what was tried and flopped. I want the more detail that “she labored for a year until it worked.” I want the celebration of failure. It’s what gives me, all of us, permission to fail and encouragement to keep chugging along.

Because eventually, the plane takes off and the world is changed.

Packed Into a Suitcase

By Kate

On April 28, 2016

In family / friends

A suitcase. It means adventure. Escape. Freedom. Rejection. Next steps. Goodbyes. Inside a suitcase, you put everything you need for a journey, regardless of whether you’re packing quickly so you can jet out of a place or methodically in anticipation of something great.

This past weekend I was in Dayton with Wonder Boy and we were going through some of his grandmother’s things. She passed away recently, and while no physical thing can replace her or provide true comfort, they can serve as reminders of good times, happy experiences and love.

Being an in-law during moments like those is weird. You want to strike the right balance of paying respect and laying claim on things. That’s especially tricky because we all have different ways we like to remember people and different takes on the importance of mementos.

When we drove home, our trunk was filled with an amazingly large amount of cat art (all credit, if that’s the right word, to Wonder Boy), some artwork created by Wonder Boy’s grandparents, some odds and ends for around the house, some costume jewelry and the sweetest little blue suitcase.

Modern suitcases are made to be durable, lightweight and super functional. Vintage suitcases, arguable more durable, were made to be functional and, IMHO, super cute.

So while Wonder Boy’s family was going through antiques, memories and old household items, I was fixated on a tiny suitcase.

Do I need it? Absolutely not! Don’t take it. But it’s so cute! No, no, no. You don’t need it. But it’s so cute!

Cute won out. I don’t know how or why Wonder Boy’s grandmother used this particular suitcase. Make-up and other toiletries? Unmentionables? With some very stealthy packing, maybe as an overnight bag? My romanticized, uninformed version is that she used it to carry hew jewelry while going on a train ride. Massive amounts of jewelry.

However she used it, this cute (haven’t I mentioned yet just how cute it is?) suitcase helped her along in journeys and I’m excited for when I get to bring it on one of my own.