Why I Love Living In Norfolk, Parts 8013 & 8014

This afternoon I walked from school to Christ and St. Luke's Episcopal Church in preparation for tomorrow's field trip -- we're exploring how and what architecture contributes to the cultural landscape. I tried to time the walk so I'd know how long it would take my students (twice as long as it takes me, because god forbid they appear to be in a hurry to get somewhere), but I kept stopping to admire churches and buildings and other people's houses.

I adore my neighborhood. I may have mentioned this once or twice before. I love that there are a variety of different architectural styles, but that almost nobody (except me and my lame-ass fire escape) is without a wide front porch. I love that there are coffee shops and bars and restaurants and the indie cinema interspersed with schools and churches and temples and houses. I love that I can walk to pretty much anything I need to get to, including the river.

But more importantly, I love that the graffiti in the unisex bathrooms at my favorite local dive bar is geared toward politics rather than who one should call for a good time. My favorite example: "class war not oil war," a new one I noticed this evening.

Really, drunk people who take the time to make political statements while they're peeing? My kinda people.