City Mission Organizes Stand-In for 3,000 Homeless Children in Cleveland

I attended this Stand-In yesterday along with other Clevelanders who supported The City Mission in their endeavor to raise awareness of homeless children in Cleveland and challenge people to make a difference. 

Homelessness is something I've always been concerned about.  There were people from 133 churches that participated in the Stand-In event.  It was an uplifting, peaceful gathering of people of different races worshiping and praying together.  Around the area, were the following signs showing nine different homeless scenarios.

  

This is how we know what love is:  Jesus Christ laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.--I John 3:16-18 (NIV)

You can help with a donation to Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless ("NEOCH") for much www.NEOCH.ORG.
needed supplies to meet the needs of unsheltered homeless in Cleveland at

Also, check out how you can help through The City Mission.

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You Never Know What You'll Find at the Library

Created by Malcolm Cochran

It's been quite a while since I've been in the Cleveland Public library downtown and was really surprised to see this big bronze piggy bank.  I had to take a picture.  Then googled it to see why they had it.  Here is what I found:

Big Pig Bank, 1997 Bronze, electric clock 36" x 73" x 34" Malcolm Cochran created a bronze piggy bank located at the Cleveland Public Library, Louis Stokes Wing Auditorium. Originally, the piggy bank was placed in a window facing the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland. Cochran stated "he was inspired by the piggy bank as a symbol of fiscal responsibility."

Oscar the Grouch

 I also checked out the puppet exhibit that is there.  It was very impressive with all sorts of puppets and marionettes from Punch & Judy to really tall ones and from other countries.  They even Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street in the trash can talking to people.  That was really funny! 

There was also a video running on puppetry techniques and a puppet theater set up with hand puppets available for people to play with.  When I was there during my lunch hour, I enjoyed watching a father and daughter having some fun putting on a little puppet show.  One guy actually sat down on the benches in front to watch them and two security guards were entertained by them as well. 

Libraries are a great place to go and they are free!  When was the last time you visited a library.  We usually go once a week.

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Cleveland Public Square at Christmas

I really like the Christmas lights and decorations on Cleveland Public Square this year and thought I'd share some of them with you.

The lights on the trees were put up in the summer when the square first opened!  They just weren't lit up until now.  The big Christmas tree is on the far left lit up in gold.

Salvation through Jesus Christ is God's greatest gift to us!

I like the fancy stonework in the path.

The tunnel has lights and greenery on it, the picture doesn't do it justice.  Some trees have colored lights.

Oops, forgot to take the skaters on the ice rink--maybe I'll add that later.  They aren't there this early when these were taken.

Our church is having two identical Christmas Eve candlelight services, one at 4:00 and one at 5:30 then just one service on Sunday, Christmas day at 10:00 a.m.  We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!


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Critters in Library Garden

There are a bunch of big, colorful snails in the Cleveland Public Library garden downtown that caught me by surprise when I went to read there on my break.

Library Garden Snails

This are all over the garden and even some are bigger than these!  I have no idea why they are here, but that's not all.  On the window sills of the library are some wolves (not pictured) and meerkats as well!

Meerkats on high window sills of library

Everyone at work who was out and saw these the first day they appeared came back buzzing about them.  Some thought they were cute and others thought it was absolutely ridiculous to have these plastic animals all around.  I only saw them at the library though.

Any thoughts?  Personally, I thought it created kind of a fun, happy atmosphere as they looked down on me when I walked to and from work at lunch and on my breaks.

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Falling Bricks and Bus Adventure In One Day!

Some of the Bricks that fell the day before.

On Monday, when I went out walking on my break, the PNC bank building at the corner of  E. 6th and Vincent lost some bricks from the top corner of it.  They came crashing down into the street and on the sidewalk below.  I actually walk down this street sometimes when I go to work or when I go out walking on my break.  Fortunately, no one was hurt which is pretty amazing.  There was a LOT, it was a much bigger pile than what is shown in this picture above--they covered a good section of the street when it first happened.  I didn't have my camera with me Monday, so took some pictures the next morning.  I found myself walking on the sidewalk close to the street rather than right next to the buildings.

Top of the building that fell apart

You can see in this picture where the top of the building broke off.  The road was closed and emergency vehicles and police cars were all over.  Traffic going home from work was terrible because drivers would block the intersection so no one could get through.

Tall building

My bus sat for 30 minutes in traffic trying to get through the intersection.  It started raining too which did not help.  Those of us waiting for the bus cheered when it finally made it through.  It was half an hour late coming and then, we just go a couple blocks and the driver announces that her shift is over, she's not going to drive in this traffic any more and is going home.  She called for another bus driver to come but there were no free drivers available.  We just sat for about another 20 minutes or so for the next bus to come.

I didn't really mind too much because I called to let Gerard know I'd be late, I had a book to read and no plans to go anywhere when I got home.  One of the other lady passengers went on a tirade though, yelling at the bus driver saying she's the worst driver she ever had!  She kept going on and on about how if she has to work late, she does.  She kept on rambling about how awful RTA is and how she would never get away with that attitude on her job.

I thought it was hilarious. 

Joining in Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop with the prompt:  Tell us about a local news story that's all a buzz in your neck of the woods right now.

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My Impressions of the New Heinen's Store in Downtown Cleveland

Heinen's on corner of Euclid and E. 9th Street, Cleveland, Ohio

Yes, this is the new Heinen's in downtown Cleveland.  I certainly doesn't look anything like a grocery store to me.  This is actually the old Cleveland Trust Bank building.   I heard so much hoopla about it that I decided to go exploring on my lunch hour and take some pictures to share my impressions of it on my blog and see what others think of it.  If you enlarge the picture, you can see it still says "Cleveland Trust Company" on the top.

It has pretty fancy doors for a supermarket, don't you think?  Only the one is used though.

Here is what you see when you first walk in--a food court:

The ceiling is SO that I couldn't even get it in the picture and still get the floor part too.  This is where most of the people are.  It was 1:30 when I went over so this is their lunch time crowd.  Around on the first floor are various places to buy food and eat there or take it out.  The sections are meat, fish, bakery, salad bar, fruit bar, prepared foods.  It's actually quite nice and there's an energy you feel as you go in.

Off to the left through an entranceway is the produce.  It's actually an adjoining building and you either walk along a ramp or down a few steps to get to this area where the groceries are.  They have lots of narrow aisles stocked with all kinds of food and also an aisle with greeting cards.

As you can see from these pictures, the floor is concrete with just a small patch of tile that looks like they forgot to remove.  It basically gave me the feeling of walking through a warehouse.  This is the widest aisle I saw.

Here is another section.  I people were few and far between in this area of the store.  I'm thinking at this point, "How are they going to stay in business with all this inventory and only the food court being filled with people?"

I continued walking, looking for something I might purchase and way in the back of the last aisle I found ice cream.  I could see me buying some of this in the summer to have at work.

Farther up that same aisle I found the milk I like.  They had it on sale today, 2 for $6, but normally it is $4.19 compared to Giant Eagle at $3 something.

The bakery section looked pretty good too, although much smaller than the one at Giant Eagle.  I only saw one shopping cart!  They have tote bags for sale at the door and I did see someone with a basket.

The Grocery Part of the Store (adjoining building from outside is between the two buses)

I didn't go upstairs, but that is where they have the alcoholic beverages.  Maybe I'll check out the second floor this week.

So what do you think?  Oh, the other problem is that there is no convenient parking right around the store.  It's for those who live and work downtown who walk.  I'll be curious to see how long they last.


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Strangest Car I Ever Saw!

Seen on Euclid Ave. in downtown Cleveland, summer of 2013

As I was walking outside on my break one day last summer, I saw this silver rocket car parked across the street!  I remember riding these at Euclid Beach, an amusement park we used to go to when I was a kid.  It's not there anymore.  I wonder who rode in this.  It was parked outside of the House of Blues so perhaps it belonged to a singer or band.

Would you like a car like this?  What is the strangest thing you have seen lately?

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Ruckus Spoils a Peaceful View

Last Friday when we went to pick up our Indians tickets for the Monday afternoon game, we walked down to the 9th Street pier after eating our lunch from Subway at the Ralph J. Perk Park.  It was very hot but the view was so worth the walk!  Not too many people were around when we went. 

There was a girl reading a book and a black family--two parents with three small children who were sitting nearby watching the boats.  They were enjoying it until all of a sudden, I hear the mother yelling for the kids to get over to her right now!  When I turned around, the kids were climbing up some steps.  When they came over, the mother got up and smacked each one on the side of the head!  She hit the two bigger kids first and they sat down on the wall where they had all been sitting before but the little one was so afraid, she was screaming before she even got hit and was afraid to go any closer.  I didn't blame her.  Then the big father got up and swatted her and she fell down.  It was heart wrenching!  All I could think of was if they treat their children like that in public, what must they do at home?  I didn't know what to do but I felt if I kept watching, the parents may not be as aggressive.  No cops were anywhere in sight.  It was very upsetting to me.

As we left, I prayed for that family, asking God to protect those children and that the parents would wake up and get some help to stop abusing their children.  Do you think I should I have budded in and said something to the parents?  Should I have called 9-1-1 (which I did consider doing, but thought by the time anyone came, they may be gone)?  What do you think we should have done, if anything?



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Wordless Wednesday: Lunch Time Walk by Lake Erie

View from 9th Street Pier

Big Boat

Sailing

Looking out to Lake Erie

It was a beautiful day so I wanted to make the most of my lunch so walked farther than usual.  

Join up with the Wordless Wednesday blog hop over at In Him We Live and Move and Have our Being.

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Funny Sights in Downtown Cleveland

The one policeman dismounted, but was on before.

 When I went out walking on my afternoon break on Tuesday, I saw a couple mounted policemen!  I am really surprised we still have mounted police and the best part is I had my camera with me so got some pictures for you.  Both horses were on the sidewalk and the one really made a mess!  The policeman got off to find something to scrape the poop off the sidewalk with.

Cleaning up after his horse!

He found an orange cone close by and scraped the poop into the street, but at least is got off the sidewalk.

In my Friday Fragments last week, I showed this structure that was in the library garden downtown:

I didn't know what it was until a few days later when I saw a sign posted:

(Click on picture to enlarge to read)

It's a work of art--The Reading Nest!  However, it has tape around it blocking access to it and a sign that says not to climb on it!  I wonder if at some point the public will be allowed in it to read.



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Unusual Sights In Downtown Cleveland

Once again, last week when out at lunch time I saw a couple unusual things.  First of all, last Friday I saw four different groups of high school kids in small groups of about eight wearing t-shirts that said, "Amazing Race Cleveland 2013."  The first group I saw had yellow shirts, the second had orange, the third had green and the fourth had blue.  JFK was on the shirts too so I assume that was the high school they were from.  Apparently, they were playing the Amazing Race, looking for different clues.  One of the blue team told me there were ten teams!  It looked like they were all having a great time--it was a gorgeous day for it!

Notice my pretty bushy tail?

In the library garden on Friday, a couple people from the Cleveland Zoo had a table with literature about different activities available at the zoo and the Metropolitan parks, but they had brought along a couple stuffed friends:  a coyote and an owl.  She said people sometimes confuse the coyote with a wolf, but the coyote is smaller. 

Of course I had to pet them both!  The nice lady offered to take my picture with the coyote:

I should have had my first cat, Mr. Moe, stuffed like this!  That was my thought after petting this guy.

For an alternative to burial or cremation of a pet, learn about freeze-drying a dead pet at www.pet-animalpreservation.com.  Would you consider this for your pet?

Posted Mr. Moe's story earlier this week.

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Never Know What I'll Find in Downtown Cleveland

 Last Friday while out at lunch I saw this:

Set of Abandoned Crutches

A pair of crutches was leaning against a trash can and no one was around that seemed to own them.  I wonder what happened and who would leave their crutches there like that.  Any ideas?


Later, on my late afternoon break, I saw one of these cute little furry critters walking on a leash! 

image source:  Wikipedia

 A lady was on her cell phone walking a ferret down the sidewalk.  I couldn't help but smile at it and she was nice and said I could pet it.  I did and it calmed me right down--and greatly improved my mood!  I was having a very busy but productive day and really needed a break so this was perfect!  It was later than when I usually go out and I normally don't walk down that street at break time.  It was cute and started crawling up my leg inside my pant leg but I didn't let it get too far.  It's neck was so tiny, I was surprised she found a collar to fit it.

Have you seen any interesting sights along your way recently?

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Downtown Cleveland At Christmas is Amazing!

Public Square in Cleveland 2012

I actually did something spontaneous on my way to work yesterday--I got off the bus early and took some pictures of the lights on Public Square while it was still dark enough to see them.  I generally have my nose in a book, but when the bus stopped to let people off, I took a peek and wow!  The lights are very pretty!  So I decided to get off and take some pictures to share with my readers.

I stood in the middle of the Northwest quadrant and looked around.  It was just beautiful! Then I looked at the lights on the other side of Superior Ave. and lo and behold, I actually saw a Nativity scene among the lights!

Lights on Public Square in Cleveland-2012

A Nativity Scene on Public Square-2012

The children's heads all moved!

Then at lunch I went to Tower City to see the Toy Soldier that I heard about at our Women of Wonder meeting at church. I never new he came to visit at Christmas time. It took me awhile to find him because he was on the lower level and the big staircase that I usually use to get down there was blocked off for his display area. Along the way to find a down escalator to that level, I saw this cute display:

The Toy Soldier

Then I spotted him pushing a little girl in a cart and hurried over to the escalator so I could get down there and get a video. He was lifting her up and swinging her around so cute. He was a mime so did not talk, but had an assistant who talked to help him if needed. Unfortunately, I was too late to get much of him with her but I did take him with a couple other kids. That key in his back actually turned too! I was impressed with him and his costume!


Watch the video below to see him in action!

This was a fun lunch hour that I enjoyed very much.  There was also a train that went around and passed by the talking Spruce tree and a children's holiday store just for kids to shop in.

Twigbee Shop for Kids Only

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