Sunday, November 18, 2007

The Dayton Gloom: Life in Grayscale

The Dayton Gloom. Not my term; coined by a former co-worker who was also not from here, responding to my complaints about the dull overcast or quai-overcast days here.

Days when the sun trys to come out, but never quite makes it, and city seems colored in grayscale.

Sometimes I like this weather, amost like a Franz Kline or Robert Motherwell black and white painitng, when the sky isn't quite that dull, and the overcast seems a luminous white or light gray, or when there are breaks and shades to the sky.

But sometimes it's just plain old dreary and glum...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you’re in a funk, Jeff; but I understand your point. When it gets grey and overcast here, it really gets grey and overcast . . . sometimes for days on end. I call them our “Edgar Allen Poe days.” Still, there are places to go that can lift the spirits. You’ve mentioned some of them in this blog. Another place I go for a lift is the 2nd Street Public Market on Saturdays. There’s so much energy, color, smells, and people just having a good time. Last Saturday, members from Circ De Solile (sp?) were in the market promoting their upcoming show at the Nutter Center. Jugglers, clowns, people on stilts in weird clothing and makeup all mingling with the crowd. It was great. It’d be fun if members of Circus would perhaps do the same thing. K-12 Gallery does a great job with their murals around town. We need more of that kind of stuff to brighten the streetscape. I also like the funky colors the new Daybreak building on S. Patterson is sporting. Ireland is a country that has a lot of cloudy, gloomy days. One of the things they’ve done in their city centers is have contests for building owners coming up with the brightest paint jobs for their store fronts. It really transformed a lot of brown/grey brick/stone buildings into something colorful and creative. Perhaps we could do the same thing.

Jefferey said...

Edgar Allen Poe days! I never thought of that. Interesting about the Irish and their colorful storefronts. I could swear I've seen pix of that someplace. Maybe it was a poster (pubs or shopfronts of Ireland).

I can sort of get into the gloom a bit, though. This is good pix weather (no glare or shooting into the sun).