The Wild Kingdom AKA Our House - Brady

Cut my normal hour of yard work short today. Why? Pretty sure I both tore out poison oak and disturbed a brown recluse spider hiding in the ivy I was ripping off our house.

Which are worse - gross city things (cockroaches, grime, etc.) or gross country things (poison plants and spiders)? I'm voting country things - at least cockroaches can't do THIS to you. (No, you know what? I was going to link the word "THIS" to a picture of a brown recluse spider bite, but it's too gross. You can look it up yourself if you're really curious.)

Mos def going to buy myself some new, non-holey gardening gloves today. These just aren't cutting it anymore in the wild kingdom.

Quick Update - Kelly

1. I love living in Chicago.

2. Living in Chicago is growing on Lucy.

3. Lucy now sports a pink bandana. (Pictures coming!)

4. I'm too busy to post on ANY of my blogs.

5. I worked a 15 hour workday today... and it's Sunday!!!

It Will Be Lovely - Brady

I just finished reading the book Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. In it, he tells the true stories of Daniel Burnham, the architect who created the "white city" for Chicago's Columbian Exposition in 1893, and Dr. H. H. Holmes, a serial killer who murdered an unknown number of people during the same time period. It's great historical reading, and I highly recommend it to anybody who's interested in learning more about Chicago.

Toward the end of the book, Larson explains what happens to each of the main characters he's followed. Daniel Burnham, who went on to design all kinds of important buildings and planned whole areas of cities, including Chicago, is getting older and knows he's nearing his death. On July 4th, 1909, three years before he dies, he's on the rooftop of the Reliance Building - which is now called the Hotel Burnham - with some of his friends. As he looks out over Chicago, his favorite city, he says, "You'll see it lovely. I never will. But it will be lovely."

100 years later, I feel lucky to be able to see a Chicago that's got to be even "lovelier" than Burnham imagined. A lot of people, myself included before I moved there, think of big cities as dark, crowded, and dirty. Now I think Chicago is absolutely gorgeous. Below are some of my favorite pictures, taken by Kevin when we lived there. They're mostly skyline shots, but sometimes little streets in pretty neighborhoods are just as nice.

The Chicago River

The Sears Tower

View from an airplane

The Sears Tower again

Pretty view from our old apartment's window

The holidays are so pretty there. Believe it or not, living in Chicago made me like winter.

Skyline from Lake Michigan

Ferris Wheel! Invented for Chicago's Columbian Exposition as an answer to the Eiffel Tower.

Northerly Island. We saw a great Jack Johnson concert there. He called Lake Michigan an ocean. :)

Another skyline view

From U.S. Cellular Field

Millennium Park

Lake Michigan is BEAUTIFUL.

Buckingham Fountain

Skyline view from the park where outdoor movies are shown all summer

Millennium Park again

How could there ever be a better place to live than this?

Harbor at night

Lake Michigan can be beautiful even during the winter.

I love this shot. Buckingham Fountain and the skyline on the kind of day that makes you forget all the horribly hot and cold ones. :)

I Hear Ya Amy - Brady

So, I'm just getting ready for yoga, and I'm feeling guilty that I insulted Amy's blog layout choice and also thinking about the negativity she's encountered when she says she's going to interview at an inner-city charter school. And then I remember something about my own experience moving to Chicago for the first time.

People who only have passing experiences with big cities (weekend sporting events, shopping trips, plays, etc.) have a lot of misconceptions about them. When I told people I was moving to Chicago, I heard over and over things like:

1) "I could never afford to live there."

2) "That's great when you're young, but you can't raise kids there."

3) "The schools are terrible."

4) "It's dangerous."

After living there for two years, I feel I can confidently answer:

1) Boloney. You can afford to live just about anywhere if you budget right. Salaries are higher there, too.

2) Also boloney. I saw tons of kids living happy, healthy, urban lives.

3) Some are not great, but some rural schools in Indiana aren't either! Most big cities have plenty of good options plus cultural attractions that are an education in themselves.

4) The whole time I lived there, I had one friend get pickpocketed. That's it. And she was walking home, alone, at 4 a.m. That's not a good idea anywhere!

And, Amy, I found that, truly, people who have never lived or worked somewhere really have no idea what they're talking about. They're just repeating stereotypes. Just smile and nod and be happy that you'll get an experience they'll never allow themselves to have.