My mother grew up in Detroit, Michigan and I spent vacations there visiting my grandparents when I was little. We'd drive up through Canada and take the tunnel that let out right into downtown. My mother would promptly hit the locks on her door and wouldn't relax until we got to my grandparents house on Duchess Ave, east of Detroit. My grandfather worked for Ford and later on for some electric company (I think...I wonder if it was the American Electric Iron Company on Woodward? I'm not sure or if it was just some local place. Someday I'll need to ask).
My memories are of emerging out of that tunnel into this huge city, bigger than I had ever seen. Gawking at crowds of people on the streets, lights, White Castle...what's that mom?? The huge huge streets, some with medians down the middle and gorgeous houses. My grandparents house was a modest brick house, the neighbors next door had an above ground pool with a slide, I'd never seen such a thing. My brother and I would longingly stare over the fence and say things in a stage whisper like..."Boy, it sure is HOOOOT out here today!!" or "Whew! I feel like I'm melting, how will we ever cool down?" until the neighbors eventually asked if we wanted to swim, just to shut us up. We weren't allowed to actually ask them if we could come over...because that would be rude. Kids! If our loud whining didn't work my grandfather would get out these 3 metal wash tubs and fill them up with the hose, we'd go sit in them and then my grandmother would come out of the house with ice cream in these fantastic colored plastic dishes on stems, the ice cream would be covered in Magic Shell. Now I'm sure that there is something very unhealthy about eating something that is liquidy chocolate something or other that hardens when it gets cold...but even today if I see it on the shelves I'll buy it and eat it with Breyer's Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream and I'm transported back to summers in Detroit. I remember eating them on the screened in porch out front and in the backyard while watching my grandfather in his beautiful garden of lilies or watch him mow with one of those non powered mowers.
I remember almost giving the other next door neighbor a heart attack as I climbed across the top of the swing set. I remember thinking how weird it was that there were all these alley's behind the houses where the garbage was collected. I remember listening to a Red Wings hockey game on the radio while watching it with the sound off on the TV, because my grandfather preferred the announcers on the radio...I happen to agree. He'd also bring us small powdered donuts at least once during our visit. I also remember vaguely a trip to his work, I remember watching him fiddle with electronic stuff and him explaining that he had gotten shocked so much that he doesn't feel much in his fingertips anymore.
I remember eating at some Dutch? something or other restaurant...it was a buffet and I remember the color red and the fact it was always pretty dark and my grandfather would complain about it. I remember my grandmother would save scraps off her plate in a napkin that she would put in her purse for the dog. My grandfather drove everywhere, because my grandmother didn't know how to drive. He'd take us to the mall that had the big metal hippos and rhino's you could crawl all over. He'd take us to Belle Isle which had the coolest boat museum with a stethoscope...no telescope...no oh gosh what are those things called in submarines??? And the creepiest aquarium I've ever been in, but I wanted to go back every time we visited because if I could just make it past the really scary creepy huge tank with the big Garr fish with the sharp teeth that seemed to slink out of the dark murky recesses, I could see my favorite fish the Lion fish in the small tank in the back, next to the equally cool sea horses and then I could go back past the amazing electric eel. I was in heaven if we were there during a display of the eel's currenty power. Every single memory I have of Detroit is happy and joyous, which is why it pains me so to see the amount of ruin that is in that city and loss of so many beautiful buildings and places. Even the aquarium after over 100 years of continuous operation was also closed.
I have a class on being a reference librarian and reference resources for my graduate degree. One of the projects is a bibliographic essay (an explanation of what that is should be saved for another time). I chose to research the ruins of Detroit and examine the history behind some of these ruins. My research has taken me to look at fascinating old maps of the area, books about ruins and social economics, journal articles on increasing green space and social issues and many many websites, pictures and films. The more I research the more I realize that Detroit is a city of dichotomy, that it has two sides sometimes right next door to each other. That is it a city that is decaying but on the brink of such great things. That a neighborhood of decaying houses can be just down the street from a restored mansion. It is beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time. I am reminded of the photo essay I did on this very subject of dichotomy during my undergraduate degree, but in a very different city, San Francisco. I have spent days and hours lost in the library and on the web happily immersed in this amazing city.
Hopefully these short movies are viewable. (I took the movies out and just have a link to the page they are on now...it was driving me nuts that I couldn't mute the initial movie.) They are amazing! Be aware there is a bunch of badly bleeped cursing and in the middle one a few off color references, but the places and hope that is exhibited in these stories is amazing! I hope to go back to Detroit someday and continue where I left off and create more good memories in this beautiful hopeful decaying rebuilding city. Watch Detroit Lives on: https://www.palladiumboots.eu/
Enjoy! PS If you want more links to pics and such they are everywhere, but I'm sure I can post some if you want.
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