The beautiful old bridges spanning the River: Celia doesn’t notice them much, and neither does he. They are just the things we cross over, abstractedly. Yet without them we would be divorced from ourselves, stuck with just a part of all that we are.
Mysterious diplomat
What was the past of the Diplomat Hotel? Was it always run-down, precarious, disreputable, as it now looks to be? The city is peppered with such mysterious hotels, looking like they would rather not be occupied, not for long at least. Their mute faces will never spill their histories. Too bad—they are probably more intrigue-laden…
Into the golden canyon
Jackson at five is a golden canyon, as commuters hurry along between massive bank buildings and the Board of Trade. The time to make money is over: the clock has been punched, the markets closed; yet just then does the financial district begin glowing with the color of gold.
The look of love?
Forget the gooey romanticism of Valentine’s Day. Peer into a night-time shop window crowded with love-laced commodity. Is this the look of love? Are relationships implied? Is the sex good? A brilliant holiday homage that’s touching, creepy, and funny all at the same time.
Awakening
On a rainy night, a red-haired mannequin awakens behind glass, intent on something beyond her current condition. An object among objects, she stretches, seemingly unmindful of her own resplendence.
Visual jazz
The facade of the Crain Communications Building gave me something to study while my bus was stuck interminably at the intersection of Michigan and Randolph. Built by the Stone Container Corporation circa 1980, this generally bland (but nonetheless immediately recognizable) tower eventually came to be known as the Smurfit-Stone Building, until the Crain’s people bought…
The river today
The temperatures have dropped in Chicago, from 60 earlier in the week to nearly zero today. The river this morning was giving up its heat to the sky. I love the closed-in, rectilinear look of this cityscape. So many surfaces, each with its own distinctive patterns and scale. Reflections inside the bus add to the…
Daytime moon
Not everything about my office is old-fashioned. If I look carefully, I see some modern touches, like this helicopter flying past a day-time moon. I can also see a real Mies van der Rohe building, but only when the weather is fine.
Everybody stay calm
It’s best not to be in a hurry when you’re bound for the Loop. Surprises await on its decrepit streets. The only thing missing this time was an emergency visit from a SWAT team or something. Next time I will record the soundtrack coming from the dump trucks, bulldozers, stopped traffic, and trains.
The land the Lake made
Less than two hours from Chicago lies the alien world of the Warren Dunes. There one feels the immensity of our Lake and the unusual environments it creates and sustains. Prevailing winds and waves push the sand of Lake Michigan toward its eastern shore, heaping it up on beaches and gradually forming it into vast…
Non-conformity
A tree refuses to drop its leaves, to join all else in suffering winter’s indignities. Is this what makes a tree an oak? Its cloud of bronze leaves defines a world all its own, different from that of its ilk, and delicately defiant of its urban setting.
Winter palette
Does the palette of winter appeal to you? I confess to liking the monochromatic color scheme that takes over on cloudy days, simplifying the views. I wandered around the other morning, visiting some of my favorite haunts, appreciating the beiges and greys, the patterns that pop out without being pretty. Across the expanse of Diversey…
