It's election season in Ohio, as indicated by the sprouting up of those perennial political signs. And for the first time in a while, I feel more compelled to help some people win and other people lose. When I lived abroad, I maintained residence in Ohio, so typically I focused on federal and state elections because it was difficult to get information on common-pleas judge and coroner candidates. When I moved back to the United States, I was excited to become more enfranchised, but then I lived in DC, where as a short-term renter, I still didn't feel I had a lot of stake in local races. So in my "taxation without representation" situation, the presidential election was basically the only thing of major consequence on my ballot in 2020.
By the time of the election, I was living (but not officially residing) in Ohio, where it was clear I wasn't the only one who thought a lot was riding on the presidential election. When Biden was announced as the winner based on Electoral College votes, we took a bike ride through downtown Columbus. The street in front of the Statehouse was as divided as the country, with Trump supporters on one side (top left) and Biden supporters on the other (top right). A few weeks later, I found myself in front of the national Capitol, where preparations were underway for the inauguration (bottom left). As I moved out of my apartment (and toward official residence in Ohio), I noticed my neighbor was counting down the days to the event (bottom right).
I don't want to go into my personal politics, but I will unabashedly announce my partisan support for the Columbus Crew, which had a big win in 2020. They stole the Major League Soccer Cup from the favored Seattle Sounders. They weren't picked to win because they hadn't really had a standout season. In fact, they lost to the Montreal Impact when we went to see them for one of their final games at Mapfre Stadium, now called Historic Crew Stadium (left). Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we didn't get to take part in the traditional pre-game tailgating, but at least we were treated to a central Ohio sunset (right).
The view from the new home of the Columbus Crew,
Lower.com Field, is a winner (top left), with it being walking distance from downtown. It's now a tradition for
Nordecke supporters and other fans to "March to the Match" from the Short North, an entertainment strip just north of the Statehouse. The stadium reminds me of British venues, where you feel like you're right on the pitch, even from the upper deck (top right). Right now, there is no designated space for tailgating, so we pre-gamed at the loveliest of dive bars,
Betty's Bar, before kickoff.
I was first introduced to Betty's -- and its $1 PBRs (top left) -- before going to a Columbus Clippers game. It was "Dime a Dog" night at
Huntington Park, so honestly, I spent more of my time standing in line and stuffing my face than watching the game (top right). From a bar balcony, we enjoyed yet another glorious central Ohio sunset (bottom). Actually, the center of our solar system lowered over Lower.com Field, as the venues for the Crew, the Clippers, and the Blue Jackets are all next to one another, within a downtown
Designated Outdoor Refreshment Area, or DORA, exempt from open-container provisions -- which definitely has been a win for Ohio's capital.
But the biggest winners of 2021 so far were Scott and me, as we snaked our way into a wonderful new home amid a slippery housing market. Don't hate, but we put an offer in on the first house we seriously looked at -- and fell in love with -- and somehow we managed to close the deal. We were so eager to move in that we started doing yardwork (the current owners had already moved out), and while removing some dead vines, I came across a sneaky little serpent (left). I asked him to stick around and watch over the place until we got the keys (right).
We closed on the house in April, right as the weather was warming up, so our first projects as homeowners focused on the outdoors. Even before we knew for sure that we had the house, we were given this large sun-shade sail for free (left). Well, actually it came at a cost, but that's a story for around the fire. Because of all the trees around our yard -- which I love -- there was really no place to put a fire ring without eating up a large part of the lawn, part of which we hope to eventually use for a garden. So we opted for a standing fire pit instead (right).
The fire pit, like almost everything in our house, is second-hand. Having lived in government-owned housing for many years, I didn't have much to contribute in terms of furnishings or decoration. Scott did more than his part, and his style was well-suited to the 1920s-era house, with its hardwood floors, tiled fireplace, paned interior doors, and glass doorknobs. A painting he got at an auction seemed made to go over our mantel, not far from an inherited desk that fit perfectly in an awkward corner of our living room (top left). But we had to go on the hunt for a lot of big items, including armchairs, a couch, and a large area rug, all of which we acquired through Facebook Marketplace (top right). Besides supplies for projects, we ended up buying only three things absolutely new: a screen door for the back porch, a mattress and box spring, and a rug for my favorite room in the house, the sunroom (bottom). Every time I sit there, I feel like I am winning at life.
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Tagliapietra, Simone, and Reinhilde Veugelers. Defining Green Industrial Policy. Bruegel, 2020, pp. 12–16, A GREEN INDUSTRIAL POLICY FOR EUROPE, www.jstor.org/stable/resrep28602.6. Accessed 22 October 2021.
