The Game's Afoot

I'm writing this afternoon from a coffee shop in downtown Rockford, MI; it's a quaint little town just a bit north of Grand Rapids. You might never know that there was a relative metropolis out there if you never made it further south than here... A lot of the locals here compare the downtown to that of TC, but to me it's more like downtown Petoskey (minus the breeze off the lake and the hilly streets and the friendly people on the streets, not just in the boutiques...) minus the influences of northern MI. It's interesting that the house brew coffee here tastes the same as it does at home, even though they roast in the vicinity of the shop, interesting too that it costs twice as much. I'd say economies of scale, but that is a moot point I'd wager, I'm not sure that lovely Rockford is much more populous that lovely main street where I'm from... Sure there are more retail opportunities here, but the town seems a bit lax in old neighborhoods and tree-lined side streets. With all these boutique-type shops and specialty retail establishments and the dearth of petite bistros and pseudo-gourmet restaurants, I'm left wondering where all the fags are? I suppose it's possible that they're all on their way back from pride in Chicago (which went down this weekend), though with the persistent rain, I'm guessing that that might not be the case. Perhaps they are all still working in the city, it's only about 10 miles to the south. Perhaps they have all fled for the summer, preferring the climes of Fire Island or Saugatuck or P-town to this... I think that if I had my rubber duck costume and my tutu I would run around with my bullhorn shouting, "Come out, come out, wherever you are!," to no avail I am sure. I sort of figured that there would be visiting fags here for the weekend, where are the Chicago-ites that fled the city for the weekend, looking for sofas or archaic tables for their chic lofts in the Loop? Where are the stylish lesbians from Fort Wayne, with their Monday afternoons off, looking for vintage and modern decor for their trailers by the lake? Where are the local standard-bearers, giving unsought advice about what to wear this season or what to decorate the house with or what's all the rage "Up North"? I decided against the city this weekend on account of the weather that was headed this way, thinking that I might do some window shopping for ideas about what to do with the exterior of my house, seeking inspiration for the back yard and the kitchen and the roof. I thought that I might happen upon others that had the same sort of ideas that I had, others that thought that they might skip out on the city and head into the country to pick strawberries and search for vintage Americana or find other ways that they might occupy their time. I wonder now if such others exist; I wonder now if I might be the sole survivor of a mythical tribe. As Sherlock Holmes said, "The game's afoot." I wonder if anyone remembers how to play?