Last night as my sandal covered feet sunk into mud with each step I experienced the Atlanta Jazz Festival. People sold snacks out of suitcases and pulled around wagons of ziplock backs that supposedly contained margaritas. From the food stands you could get oysters, lobster rolls, hibachi, Caribbean rice dishes, and so much more. Tents had been set up where people were clearly day camping the entire weekend.
And despite the rain, the crowds came. They were expecting 200,000 people and the two acts I saw were probably the two I heard talked about the most on social media ahead of time. The place was packed! I stayed about 3 hours, listening to two performers, before I made my way back to my apartment. The walk back was short and simple and I followed the crowd most of the way but I realized in that moment that I had not given much thought to making myself familiar with the route home in the light of day so the walk home wouldn't feel so foreign. It was alone in that crowd of people after the sun had set I walked that street for the first time.
I felt so small in a sea of people. There is freedom in moving throughout the world alone, every decision my own. I stay only as long as I want. I go exactly where I want. But I miss having someone to turn to and share the moment, someone to chat with between sets, someone to encourage me to experience something different.
Yesterday afternoon, I decided to try out the MARTA and see if I could find my way to what will be my new office. I felt a bit like a tourist with the novelty of the subway. I've never lived anywhere with a subway before and so my experiences have been pretty limited to a brief trip to NYC in 2024 and decades ago in Europe. I easily found the station near me, paid my fare, and boarded. It was a short ride to my destination station
Finding the street at when I got off though, didn't go quite so smoothly as I circled the multiple level station several times before finally finding an exit. The station is currently under renovations although I imagine they will be done soon. We are only a couple of weeks away from the World Cup and this station is the closest station to the stadium. Up at street level, it took a moment to orient myself to where I had been let out.
Oh how I felt like a fish out of water as I tried to navigate my way around downtown on foot. I kept getting twisted up as I turned left and then right. And the vibe felt so different - I really felt out of place in a way I had not yet experienced in Midtown. I did find where my office is located and then continued on to Centennial Olympic Park.
I see some pretty wild outfits and appearances in Midtown (that are actually quite refreshing in their uniqueness) but none of that prepared me for what I saw around Centennial Park. The first two that drew my eye were two women who had painted their skin and hair purple and as they turned the corner, I noticed they had tails! I then noticed more and more people with tails. Then there was a person dressed in a strange birdlike black costume that covered them head to toe.
Nobody around me seemed to be batting an eye although the bird like black costume got some admiration as people snapped photos. I later saw signs for Momocon which I assume is what prompted the costumes but it was such a bizarre thing to witness without any understanding in the moment of what was happening.
Yesterday morning, I walked Piedmont Park with my camera looking for birds as a light sprinkle came down. Gray Catbirds seemed to be the species of the day as they constantly sung their song and posed for some great photos. I also enjoyed watching some juvenile Canada Geese. And I captured some amazing photos of a Brown Thrasher in grass that was covered in tiny raindrops.
But what stands out most was my experience with two Muscovy Ducks. There was a woman standing by the pond who motioned me over when she saw me looking for birds with my camera. She pointed out a large Muscovy Duck in the pond that appeared to be going in circles. She explained that she could see the head of another duck below it and she didn't understand what was happened. I observed a few minutes and saw that as it circled, the head of that second duck would occasionally come up for air.
We both were horrified as we watched what appeared to be one duck trying to drown the other duck. Neither of us had ever seen it before nor understoodd what we were watching. Then suddenly it was all over and the smaller duck below escaped while the larger one just meandered off. I later did some searching online and discovered that ducks in general are pretty violent during mating and the male will often chase a female and almost drown her as he mates with her.
It really was an eclectic weekend of experiences, many of which felt so foreign and unfamiliar to me. Both awe and uncertainty mixed through me constantly. I'm confident this move is going to be an absolutely amazing move for me. I am in complete awe that it is actually happening. But it really is a lot all at once. And I miss having someone to walk through a big life change like this with me, although I also recognize all that I will gain from doing it alone.
I have to head back to Birmingham today. I should probably clean up the apartment a bit so that it is in good shape next time I want to move more things over. And maybe I should go find my car. I don't remember where I moved it to after it finished charging Saturday morning.
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