Cleveland took it on the chin once again last week. From the same people who dubbed us the “worst weather city” came another “distinction.” Forbes Magazine, using data on everything from the economy and jobs to education and crime declared Cleveland “The Most Miserable City” in the country! It just put me in a funk. Yes, like other big cities, especially in the midwest/northeast corridor, we have big challenges. But it certainly doesn’t help one’s mental outlook to have that label hanging over us.
All this is why, when I stepped out of the building last Friday evening about 6:40, I was thrilled to be greeted with the sight I wait for every year. Looking toward downtown Cleveland, I caught my breath as I took in the skyline. Shimmering, it stood against a sky that was a very particular shade of blue. Luminous still from the setting sun, it was a blue that graduated from sapphire to indigo. . . .and it is for me the first harbinger of the coming Spring. From now on, when the workday ends, it is not going to be so completely DARK. It will get a little bit lighter everyday (minus those blanketed by clouds) as we move toward the Spring solstice.
I felt heartened by the sight, by the beauty of Cleveland against that magical sky, the promise of days to come. And I didn’t feel miserable at all.
March 9, 2010 at 8:22 pm |
Take that Forbes Magazine! I wonder if any of those editors who compiled the city rankings could be invited to Cleveland to have their faces rubbed in their own cognitive dissonance – hey, maybe they play golf?