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07/19/2025

Today’s blog

Lynn Murphy Mark

Greetings from “Charm City”

In case you don’t know this, Baltimore is affectionately known as “Charm City” due to its friendly and welcoming atmosphere. It’s also known as the birthplace of the Star Spangled Banner. Yesterday I landed gently – honestly it was one of the smoothest landings I remember – in this place where my Hermana, Katie, lives. After a dozen or so texts and calls –  I have to add that Katie’s frantic calls went unanswered because my phone was on silent – we finally found each other in the unofficial pick-up lane at BWI. 

I had just come from Terminal 2 at Lambert. The terminal was packed to bursting. First I was surprised and annoyed that so many people were in line in front of me. Then I remembered that this is summertime and people go on vacation and Friday is a popular day to fly. That explained the huge golf club bags and duffels that were being checked, and the unusual number of children and babies getting ready to travel.

At our gate, E 18, there were very few seats left in the waiting area. I snagged one just in time to be joined by a woman with four stairstep children. The group included one toddler who had the most piercing scream I’ve ever heard. The child was enjoying practicing her shrill raw talent over and over. Mom was apparently used to this display and little one’s siblings were quietly looking at their iPads and books while she carried on. At first I felt sorry for mom, taking on a voyage without another adult to help her. But about 20 minutes into the shriek-fest a dad appeared, studying his phone intently. I immediately assumed that he had been hiding out in the men’s restroom. Katie texted he had probably been in the adjacent bar.

Smooth flight, smooth landing, not so smooth pick-up later, and Katie and I were together at last. We drove to Catonsville, which is quite reminiscent of Webster/Kirkwood. First stop? A liquor store to pick up some wine. Second stop? Patel Brothers grocery to get some samosas for lunch and later. Then off to Katie’s sweet apartment. It is cozy and comfortable with just enough space for her and an occasional guest. 

The guest bedroom is divided into a sleeping and sitting area as well as a storage place for Kemet’s paintings. Most of them are still boxed up from her New Mexico departure some years ago. One day while I’m here, we are going to open the boxes and catalogue the paintings. Hopefully we will find the one Katie is wanting to display. So last night I slept with Kemet’s spirit with me in the room. 

After talking non-stop for about an hour, Katie got out a book that has metaphysical interpretations of people according to their birthdays. We spent the next two hours exploring the writing about birthdays of people we love. The writings turned out to be pretty true to form for each person we looked up. Sometime while I’m here we will also do card readings for each other. This is why I love being in Katie’s presence. There’s never a dull moment.

Of course we talked and commiserated about politics and 47 and the ridiculous and cruel nature of his administration. The day ended with us watching snippets of news about the alleged birthday letter that 47 wrote to Jeffrey Epstein on his 50^th birthday. True to form, the story is salacious and typical of what 47 is capable of.

But the highlight was watching the movie, “Sinners”. Katie is so taken by it that she has her own copy. We settled on the couch with our pizza and my wine and off we went into one of the most powerful movies I’ve seen in a long time. Yes, it’s a horror story about vampires in the 1930’s deep South, but that is just one layer of this rich film. Black history in the Mississippi delta is the real focus of the film. The vampires who want to claim dozens of Black bodies are all white. I just kept thinking how white people have tried to suck the blood and spirit out of People of Color for hundreds of years. 

There’s plenty of blood in the movie, but the characters steal the attention away from the gore. One by one they are attacked and bitten and turned into evil spirits willing to go after their own people. The film is much more than that story, though. There is a Blues soundtrack that is wonderful. There are love stories that unfold. There is a plea for understanding and appreciating how we are all one beyond the veil that separates physical from spiritual. There is the joy of the one day of true freedom that the characters enjoyed before the horror started.

More will be revealed during this delightful interlude with Katie!!