View From the Hammock brought to you by Purple Frog

I met Rodriguez through the Shalom Project. He owned a small company in Kansas City and his company profile looked very fitting with the idea of providing affordable housing. Rodriguez got unusually agitated as soon as he learned that I was from the former Soviet Union. I would understand if he was Cuban to have such reaction upon meeting a Russian citizen. Rodriguez insisted that I should see the house he’s been working on for the last two months. I also heard the word “nuclear,” but was not sure where to place it in the context of our conversation about Kansas City and the weather. It was one of the steamy July days. The temperature lazily sat at above a hundred and, with my habit not to drink any water, my first summer in Kansas City felt like real hell. I was happy to get out of the church building that didn’t protect from the heat and get into my car. From Central, we crossed State Avenue and then Parallel Parkway and ended up in a very quiet neighborhood. The white stone h