My Secret Columbus Bicentennial Celebration

Columbus turns 200 today. There have been several public festivities to honor this occasion, and yet I also wanted to acknowledge it privately. This has, after all, been my home for 22 years and I was born in the year of our country’s Bicentennial. So I trekked through the snow to a tree in the middle of Goodale Park, lit a Candle Lab candle, and sang Happy Birthday. I gave thanks. And I left a frosted vanilla cupcake from the North Market. Yes, I looked around to make sure no one was watching the kook with her makeshift solo Bicentennial party. But to do such a thing in the city that taught me about the power of accessibility and value of creative expression somehow felt appropriate.