Rainbows and smiles

Ah, Michigan.

It must be the turn of the seasons here. Two days ago I turned on the air conditioner. I heard the temperature got up to 92F. I don't know if that is a record. Today barely cleared 60F and tonight should get below 40F and there are warnings of patchy frost. I'm debating whether to turn on the furnace or just let the house be cold in the morning.

One reason why I just might let it be cold (depending how cold) is because I leave tomorrow after lunch to head for Stratford, Ontario for a weekend of theater. This is the trip that was postponed from mid August. That passport hasn't been found (and would be no good if it was), but the enhanced driver's license is in my wallet. I return Monday morning -- getting back in time to head to an appointment for a cat-scan for my shoulder (or maybe it's an ultrasound) followed by a regular appointment at the Nutrition Healing Center in Ann Arbor.

Yesterday evening was the annual fund raising event for the Ruth Ellis Center. Again, I volunteered. I get to eat the same food and see the same show as the paying customers and only have to help out at the Silent Auction (which cleared over $4000). For the amount of work I do at the center I don't consider I got in on the cheap.

The event was held at the College for Creative Studies, a famous commercial art college in Detroit. Lots of people are familiar with the campus near the Detroit Institute of Arts. I discovered CCS has a second building in the New Center area about a block away from the Amtrak station. The Ruth Ellis event took over the convention space on the 11th floor of a grand old building. There are classrooms and student lofts on other floors and a cafeteria on the ground floor.

The Silent Auction was set in front of the windows so I had a fabulous view of the downtown skyscrapers and various landmarks to the southeast. Around 6:30 a rainstorm started. At 6:45 the sun came out, creating a bright rainbow. For a time there was a faint double. We thought that was pretty cool to happen during a gay event. This rainbow stayed around for a good 20 minutes.

We went to the big hall for the program. Amongst all the speechifying was the announcement that the Lear Corporation has become a major sponsor of the Center! We'll be able to offer even more services to help gay youth get on their feet and the Ruth Ellis House, which serves as a transition living space for homeless youth, might become a cluster of houses. And, yes, it is needed -- there are perhaps 800 homeless sexual minority youth in the Metro Detroit area on any given night. We have housing for maybe 20 of them.

Then on to the big event. Over the summer perhaps 9 or 10 youth participated in workshops at the Center on being true to yourself and expressing it. That can be a challenge for a gay youth and a bigger challenge for a transgender kid. As part of that each youth made a sketch of an outfit that would express him or herself. With the aid and work of CCS students in the fiber arts department these sketches were turned into actual clothing. The youth modeled their creations in a fashion show complete with runway, spotlights, photographers, and a highly enthusiastic audience. The youth sported smiles that glowed! This was a level of expression and acceptance they hadn't experienced before.