Carting along

Much moreso than in the past, getting from here to there seems lately to be work. With a walk to the El or bus stop a given, and the wind and snow coming with more regularity, completing an otherwise ordinary task (like going to the gym or to the store) can sometimes make us sigh and consider whether this is really something that needs to happen immediately (unfortunately, we are sometimes successful at talking ourselves out of important activities). But today we decided to take an momentous step to improve one of our regular excursions (to the grocery store).....we bought a cart! If you live in Chicago, you are aware that all women over 65 are required to own a 4-wheeled shopping cart. Not really...but there honestly aren't many folks under that age that you see pushing these things around. But why not??? They reduce shoulder soreness from multiple bags on each arm and they prevent the classic "your eyes are bigger than your biceps" syndrome. With the cart, one can wheel around the store and collect the necessary items--but stop when the cart is full. The full-size shopping cart can be deceptive--Eric and often ended up getting way more than we could carry comfortably for 7 blocks, which is how far we live away from Dominick's. But today, we arrived home with a full load of groceries--and no sore shoulders! We love our new cart!

Despite getting tired of trekking around at times, we are loving Chicago. The current show in our church's gallery space has been by an artist (whose name we don't know) who takes photographs of Chicago. For some really neat city shots of all kinds, check out this website: http://www.dmogalleries.com/index.html.

We have also been reading lots about the city. Eric and I both recently finished reading The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, an amazing and dark revisiting of Chicago in 1892-93 and its journey toward and through the World's Columbian Exposition. It tells two parallel stories--one of Daniel Bunham, the principal architect for the World's Fair, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer who took advantage of circumstances related to the fair and the changing city to lure his victims. A very intriguing story--and true!

I also just finished reading the 2004 book Never a City So Real: A Walk in Chicago by Alex Kotlowitz (I linked the title to the desription that I did because it's by Powell's--the best book store ever in another one of our favorite cities--Portland!). Kotlowitz basically hangs around with some ordinary people in Chicago who have done some really interesting things--and who make Chicago the great and sad and complex and exciting city that it is. There is one section about a guy who owns a diner in Albany Park, on the northwest side. As I read the description of the place and the owner's interaction with the day laborers who gather in the parking lot seeking work each morning, I realized--hey, we've been there! Three years ago, Eric and I participated with Seminarians for Worker Justice in a rally there to support the day laborers as they fought for a Worker Center--on the coldest Martin Luther King Day ever! We stood in that parking lot and we drank hot chocolate from GT's diner (these were the pre-coffee-addiction days) and used their restroom. How cool. Though there are still challenges for the laborers, they have since been successful in opening a Workers Center! Here is a 2005 article that tells a bit about it.

The building right behind us is GT's: