QUIET PLACES

Even as a child, I was generally most comfortable when alone; social conventions often seemed silly, and needless, and I am sometimes anxious around groups of people, especially strangers.

Over the years, I found a number of places to block out the noise of everyday, and better hear the voice of my Creator. I visited them often, and sometimes long to see them again.

THE WOODS- There were the ones behind Elyria Avenue and Broadway, between the tracks and the river , peaceful, with the scent of water permeating all. There was King's Woods, on the northern side of the east / west rail line, and the small patch of woods and marsh behind the south side of 21st Street, up past Reeves Avenue. Each one had its own atmosphere, and allure, its own attractions, whether it be the garter snakes along the Black, or the wild strawberries to be found near the projects.

LAKEVIEW PARK- I frequented the park between midnight and five, when it was closed, and vacant. I'd roam all through Lakeview, like its official spectre, listening to the faint echoes of the other ghosts there.

BROADWAY, AT NIGHT- The bars closed at 2:30, yet I might still be downtown at four,
Adding to twenty-some years of footsteps I'd left there over the years. I'd climb to the vantage point of the 530 Shop roof, or the parking garage at 300 Broadway, and of course, I'd ankle over to Veteran's Memorial Park and....point the cannon.

CHARLESTON CEMETERY- As a youngster, I would be leery of cemeteries at night, save for this one.

I don't walk at night here-I haven't for years- but I sometimes catch a reverberance of those nights, walking through the quiet spaces, sometimes running into others, far from sleep, seeking solace-

Perhaps you.