This month is Pride Month, and this weekend our city held its annual Davis PrideFest at Civic Park. It started in mid-afternoon, so we went down and enjoyed all the festivities. The afternoon June heat was a bit much to take, especially in the direct sun, so we stayed long enough to watch some of the drag performers, and the Sacramento Gay Mens’ Chorus, and walk around to all the booths getting stickers and fun things. It was organized with the support of the Davis Phoenix Coalition. It is important to show support, especially right now. I did a little bit of sketching, having coloured my page in Pride colours so I could just do quick sketches, I still found it tricky because the only shade was very far from the stage area. It was a good atmosphere overall, families and kids playing and lots of support for the local LGBTQ+ communities. We didn’t stay too long, it was very very hot and there was very little shade, but we had a nice Kona Ice in rainbow colours before heading home.

One thing I did make this week, having seen other examples online where people had mashed up their national park photos to create a Pride flag, so I decided to do something similar, and created the flag below from a whole load of my Davis sketches. It was fun to put together! Once I started I could not stop and it was interesting to go through all of my Davis drawings from the past couple of decades that I have been here – I really have drawn a lot of this town. It has turned into quite a body of work. Anyway here it is!

And on Sunday we had the annual Run For Equality. I had printed out a copy of the flag of sketches and pinned it to my sleeve, as you can see below. It was my first organized run since the 10k in November and I have been lazy, that’s for sure. I finally got back out just a couple of weeks ago and starting my old 3 mile run looping around the blocks of north Davis. I’m a lot slower, heavier for sure, well it’s been a heavy half year, weighed down by everything that is going on (and all the food). It does feel good when I run though. This was the first time I have taken part in this run. The Run For Equality was founded in honor of Mikey Partida who is a local Davis runner that was targeted in a horrendous hate crime over ten years ago. I remember it in the news back then, it was shocking. This prompted members of the community led by his mother to form the Davis Phoenix Coalition, and this run/walk event was created to honour those who have suffered bigotry and intolerance. Mikey was announced at the start, and that was an inspiration to all of us about to run. (At that point a known local ‘phobe attention-seeker also showed up at that moment to try and make it all about her, but I don’t give them any attention.) This wasn’t a huge run like the Turkey Trot so it felt more communal, and runners seemed to give each other positive vibes, and it was easier to see the people you knew. It’s the same course as the Labor Day Run which loops back along the same path, I saw the son of a guy I know through soccer (when his son was much smaller) whizz past at the front on his way to coming first about ten minutes ahead of me, his dad a few minutes behind him. I wore my sketch-flag on my sleeve (see below). I had been a little nervous about doing the run, being my first in ages, but I was pleased with how it went and cannot wait for the next one, which will be the Moonlight Run in July, the one held in the evening. Running (like sketching) definitely helps beat the bad away, but then you get home and see The News and it’s back down again. Actually I got home and we had donuts and watched Time Bandits, one of my favourite films and infinitely more fun than the News.