Locally we have had to deal with some flooding and now the aftermath of it for the last week or two. It's been long and involved work. Ranging from being thigh deep in a river while standing in the middle of the street to having mold covered drywall rain down on me. Yummy mold.
I do have to say, it's amazing, it's why I love people, the good spirits these people who have lost so much can have.
Labels:
The Cutting Room Floor,
Work
This is Jeremy Chapman, laughing yoga instructor, and head of the Chicago Laughmore Club (I think that's the name, but as with all organizations like this, it's a little loose and hard to get a handle on some basics.) They meet every once and a while, and laugh. No purpose, no point, except the physical, mental and emotional health benefits of laughter. Yes, I'm going to go back and just do this instead of covering hopefully in the future.
Special thanks to my cuz Jackie who spotted this one while she was visiting Chicago. I, alas, totally walked by it without even noting it. I've become too hardened to seeing the strange of this universe.
Labels:
Laughs,
surreality,
The Self-Assigned Life,
Work
So I had plans for this weekend, mostly work plans, but plans. Basically Saturday morning survived and Saturday night, which was indoors, the rest of the weekend was thrown away. Such is the life of flooding and constant rain.
Instead I spent all day Sunday, half of which was supposed to be shooting a magazine cover on the Chicago River (ahh...the irony), standing in the Des Plaines River watching people sandbag and surveying damage. I don't if I've ever treasured dry socks as much as when I got home. 6 hours of wading through a river is really plenty. But I do have to say in the world of problems, at least I have a dry home to go home to, and for that, I am thankful tonight.
Labels:
Problems? What Problems?,
Work
This is one of my favorite little hideouts in the city, the Thorn Garden on the south side of the Art Institute.
Labels:
Because I Can,
Work
The city had going on today, and again on Wednesday, some dancing in Millennium Park. I didn't get to stick around as long as I would've liked, but hey, whatever. Got an okay image or two, and I always love good break dancing.
If you want to see it it will be happening again on Wednesday from 4-6pm, starts at Crown Fountain (the spitting fountains on Michigan Ave.) and works around the park from there.
Labels:
Dance,
Good,
The Self-Assigned Life,
Work
As much as I'm a city boy, and I am a city boy, damn, I just want to go hide in the woods most days. It always amazes how much of an option that really is in this city though.
Over the last umpteen years I've gotten to know a lot of little wilderness, or wilderness-y hideouts in the Chicago-land area. From the likes of some of the Forest preserves, to Northerly Island, and little odd spots here and there this city has some often surprising little hideaways.
Now, I'm not calling any of these a real replacement for the real Great Outdoors, but they are an escape from the city, a brief respite. I look for a lot of these places.
This is why I have to say I was a bit suprised to find a bird sanctuary right by downtown that I didn't know about. This is by an area that I have biked past about 5 times so far this summer, and probably over 50 times in my life. It's just south of McCormick Place and is called, shockingly enough, the McCormick Place Bird and Butterfly Sanctuary.
It's actually a green roof for a parking garage, though you'd never know that unless you were told or were looking for the scattered air vents and emergency exits. From the surrounding areas it doesn't look like much, just a grassy slope. 
Because it's a plains/grassland environment this is enough to obscure it from sight. It's not till you get into it that you lose most of the city, and get lost in high grasses.
Unfortunately or fortunately it's closed off to people to protect the habitat, or at least much of it is. Regardless, it's a nice little escapist gem in this city.
Now...back to work and driving. Ugh.
Labels:
Good,
No Real Purpose,
Work
