Blogs from Norfolk, Virginia, United States, North America - page 6

A sunny Sunday afternoon in Indian Summer beckons to a bicyclist. The air moves with a gentle breeze, panoply of steak and hamburg grilled on charcoal and gas, with just a touch of deet. The sun is sinking low into the sky, another two hours of daylight remaining, at most. A twenty-mile ride into the sun on a warm, clear afternoon awaits. Suburbia sprawls ahead to the horizon, a maze of boulevards (minus the requisite trees) and avenues (not wide enough to bear the name). Cars roar by at 30, 40, 50 miles per hour, and yet the ride begins, slowly picking up speed as lungs open up and the heart quickens. A momentarily empty stretch of four lane, divided blacktop ahead, and no cars behind. A quick tuck down onto the aero bars hanging ... read more

Tomorrow night I will be sleeping in Manhattan as I prepare for the Republican National Convention. I'm not quite sure what to expect, but I've felt led to be there. I've often regretted not being in Philadelphia for the Republican National Convention in 2000. I'm certain that I would feel far more regret if I did not head up to New York for this year's convention. I hope to be able to post some of the photographs I shoot next week on my website: WesCheney.com . I'm not going to New York to commit acts of civil disobedience or anarchistic violence, nor am I going as a convention delegate. Rather, I want to be in New York as an engaged observer, a participatory witness. There are no uninvolved, passive observers- merely be observing an observer participates ... read more

5:30 AM and most everything is quiet at the Sadako Sasaki House of Hospitality in Norfolk, also known as the "Norfolk Catholic Worker House." The birds outside are rustling as the sky warms into view, and a diesel locomotive idles less than a mile away. Calvin the cat is eating his breakfast, and I can hear Victor's soft footsteps upstairs as he prepares for another day of teaching school. I've just finished my breakfast and a couple of pages of William Stafford's collected writings, and now I'm focusing on updating my Friends as to my new adventures at the Norfolk Catholic Worker. I've been living at the Catholic Worker for a month now, although I was on the road for a week photographing trains, and my weekends have often been spent with my fiance Jennifer. Yes, ... read more

So far my transition to a life without a personally-owned automobile has been pretty smooth, although the last week has been a real test of my resolve, what with temperatures dropping below freezing, heavy winds, rain and snow. But with my body almost completely sheathed in waterproof gore-tex, I’m pretty much immune to precipitation. I often arrive at work wearing my bike clothes, and so I slip into our photo studio darkroom and change from bicycling casual to business casual. During the day I stash my bike gear underneath my desk, and at night I exchange my office shoes for my bike shoes before pedaling home. At the end of last week a client invited me to travel with him on a private jet to a museum opening on the other side of the state. I ... read more

I left Williamsburg in a hurry with another Quaker on bicycle, both of us eager to catch the 10:30 ferry to Surry from Jamestown. We had a little over 3 miles to ride to the ferry in 20 minutes, but we didn't want to miss the ferry because we would have been left standing on the dock for another 30 minutes, waiting for the next ferry. Given that the morning had still not warmed up beyond 50 degrees, it would have made for a chilly wait. Steve led the way on his bicycle, and I worked to get as much oxygen into my lungs as possible to keep up with him. Even though Steve was riding a mountain bike with big, chunky tires, I still had a hard time keeping up with him encumbered as I ... read more