lake shore drive {december 12, 2022}

Lake Shore Drive, the iconic road with Lake Michigan on one side and downtown Chicago on the other, changed its name last year. 

In June 2021, the Chicago City Council voted to rename Lake Shore Drive in honor of Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable, a Black trader who is widely regarded as the founder of Chicago. DuSable is believed to have lived at the mouth of the Chicago River in 1790, and established a trading settlement that led to the formation of Chicago, which then was formally incorporated in March 1837.

The new name would be Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable Drive. An uproar ensued and a compromise came about. As part of the compromise, the aldermen approved an ordinance to rename the popular street “Jean-Baptiste Pointe DuSable Lake Shore Drive.”

Of course there was controversy with the name change. Opponents wanted to protect Lake Shore Drive's tradition and legacy and were concerned that it could cause confusion for commuters along this heavily traveled road. Supporters contend the change was long overdue and a step toward addressing racial injutice.

Chicagoans still call it Lake Shore Drive, the GPS still calls it Lake Shore Drive. Just like the change from the Sears Tower to the Willis Tower, this too will take some time.

day is done {december 11, 2022}

Lots of walking today...almost 20K steps. That's how I ride in big cities. Did my morning walk around Lincoln Park while T went to church, walked to the grocery store to get some "fixins" for chicken soup, and walked around ZooLights at the Lincoln Park Zoo. At the end of the day, a glass of wine and some pasta at a quiet Italian restaurant. I love how the Christmas lights twinkled in my wine glass.

Leave a little sparkle wherever you go ~

 

finding love...{december 10, 2022}

On two corners of Webster and Racine 💜

 

morning walk {december 9, 2022}

This morning T was on a phone call and after being a captive audience to an hourlong conversation with FNMA about housing as we drove to Chicago, I really didn't want to hear anymore about mortgages, financing, and whatever else comes along with this unprecedented time in the mortgage banking world.

Off for a walk around Lincoln Park.

I love this neighborhood. There's artwork on buildings, sidewalks are bustling with people walking to their destinations or walking their dogs, the architecture is different from one home to another, the "L" winds its way through Lincoln Park as it rumbles along the tracks, the Chicago skyline is in view from the big green space in Oz Park, right now Christmas decorations adorn front porches and fences, smells from food cooking waft from restaurants and back porches. This neighborhood teems with life that you can see, hear, feel, smell, and taste. It's a feast for the senses. On one hand I am an outsider looking in at all that's going on around me. On the other hand I am full-fledged immersed in the life that's around me.

Sides of buildings and tucked away in alleys. DePaul University, the largest Catholic University in the US, is in Lincoln Park. A little ironic that its mascot is the Blue Demon?

Strong support for Ukraine in Chicago. This display made me think of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's powerful piece, "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo."

Clickity-clack, whoosh. The train speeds over the streets and between homes on the elevated track system. The noise is part of the rhythm of the city.

"I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles..."

frothy coffee {december 8, 2022}

Small things to start the day on a good note...

My daughter and future son-in-law are off to a wedding in New Orleans and we are in Chicago to dog sit their 16-year old dog. Since the last time we visited, they have added a Nespresso and milk frother to their counter top. What fun! Watching the milk frother do its thing is mesmerizing: Pour in milk and in a minute, pour out foamy milk.

First time pour blop...not quite up to the coffee house barista talent!

wordy wednesday...infamy {december 7, 2022}

Today is December 7. In 1941 it was a date that would live in infamy. Before Alzheimer's took away my mom's memory, every December 7 she would tell us about listening to President Roosevelt's speech on the radio about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. declaration of war on Japan, her brother's World War II service in the Navy, how her mom went to her room every night after dinner and prayed the Rosary for her son's safety, planting victory gardens, the rationing of food, metal, paper, tires for the Allied cause, the death of a sailor from the tiny town of Danvers, Illinois in that attack, how a nation came together. When my parents finally got a garage door keypad, their code was 4197. 41, the year of Pearl Harbor. 97, the year of their youngest grandchild's birth.

T's dad was 17 years old in 1941 living in the tiny town of Bloomdale, Ohio. He and some friends listened to FDR's speech on the radio and were ready right then and there to go fight the "Japs." It didn't happen. Mom told him he had to turn 18 and finish high school before he could serve. He graduated in June 1942 and left shortly after for his Naval aviator training. He served on the island of Espiritu Santo in the Pacific.

We traveled to Hawaii in 2012 and visited Pearl Harbor. We weren't there on December 7 but regardless of when you step onto the Arizona Memorial, you feel the magnitude of this event and reverence for those who died. Droplets of oil still rise to the surface of Pearl Harbor everyday. Pearl Harbor survivors and others call the ascending droplets "Black Tears" or "Tears of the Arizona."

According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs statistics, approximately 167,000 of the 16 million Americans who serve in World War II are alive in 2022.

thank you {december 5, 2022}

To the people who own that house. We just discovered you this year. Come the day after Thanksgiving, you have enough Christmas lights to power a village. Your house draped in lights, larger-than-life mega tree, oversized candy canes and ornaments galore, the “dog park.” You are not the house in the neighborhood with sparing, intentionally-placed lights and baubles. No, you are the one that bounds chaotically past tasteful, into the realm of pure fun.

I read about you in a Dayton blog and saw photos from previous years. T and I made a point to drive by your Christmas house to marvel at the over-the-top decorations. At this point, they basically go hand in hand with the season. When the Christmas house is all decked out, that’s a local indicator that the holiday season has come at last.

We appreciate how you have created this holiday experience. Rejoicing in your home will become a tradition that we regard with nostalgia and warm regards despite chilly winter weather. Your festivities are delightful. You laugh in the face of minimalist decor, and we are happy you do so.

Thank you for your time and effort. It doesn’t go unnoticed. Creating this mega-display of Christmas spirit  cannot be easy. We take in the wonderful madness of your yard and ask ourselves, 'How in the world did they manage that!' and 'Where do they even keep all of this during the rest of the year?' Not to mention the cost to foot the electricity bill for all of those glorious, twinkling Christmas lights and automations.

We appreciate that you put up with the constant, pesky flow of traffic on your street, especially as cars slow down in front of your lawn and greedy eyes take in your home's exterior, which in any other context would be extremely concerning. You didn't have to share the holidays with so many onlookers but you chose to do so which brings joy to young and old alike. Thank you.