All Aboard!

Often, a day or two in a different environment can bend your mood or shift your psyche. Too many days in a row at a computer with line after line of numbers, can fry your synapses and make you weary. So, why not hop a train to Chicago and see what kind of stimuli can turn you upside down and inside out?

Any type of traveling can be tricky. Crying children, people on cell phones, smelly food, crowded transport can make or break your trip. The train can be soothing and freeing but also late. Sometimes very late. I remember waiting 12 hours in the Toronto Train Station waiting for them to clear the tracks of a giant snowstorm. Summer can often be worse, loss of air conditioning or accidents or delays. It is not that glamorous to travel anymore. Even car travel can be troublesome with summer construction in full bloom. Yet our feet get itchy and our minds get to wandering so a little day or two away from the regular grind is refreshing.

My friend lives in Rogers Park near Evanston, Illinois. It is a lively area with beautiful tree lined streets and Loyola University nearby. It is a 45 minute subway ride from Union Station in Chicago so you have time to people watch and make sure you make your stop, always a concern when I am in a new city!

You kind of forget that Chicago is bordered by Lake Michigan but it is a welcome cool breeze compared to the steamy city heat. The little beach on the edge of Evanston has an annual painting contest to spruce up the concrete seats that face the beach. The students of Loyola have also had a dune reconstruction project that has restored the dune on the point and it is filled with native plants and surrounded by chirping birds. The city folk seem very serious in making sure it stays that way.

My friend is a lovely host, he is a wonderful cook and a great walker. He finds out the history of the place he lives and shares it generously with others. He told me that there are 86 languages spoken in Rogers Park and I got a great tour of Loyola University & their wonderful pipe organ. There is also a echo chamber right outside the church which a police officer demonstrated on our way out of the church. My friend did not know this tidbit and I was glad to be with him when he learned something new!

I love that most places we went were around 15 minutes away. Any way you travel there is a subway or coffee shop or fabulous restaurant or little movie house. It was a reason I loved the neighborhoods of San Francisco. They made you self sufficient even if you weren’t very adventurous or curious—you had to be a patron and learn the neighborhood rules. And mostly, you could complete the circle in your neighborhood and if you were smart, learn about your neighbors and be part of the social network.

I admit that I am not that keen about talking to people on the train. I’d rather sit quietly, enjoy the scenery, read, write. Often, I feel a bit chagrined at my reluctance to social but my job keeps me socializing most of the day and this was a vacation so I drew the line in the sand and put the guilt on a shelf for another day.

I’m sure I will venture back to Rogers Park for another visit and an excellent omelette with toast provided by my friend who has a lovely little condo with no television or computer. The sounds of the city bounce around in his courtyard along with the beautiful strings of a classic piece of music that plays on his radio in the kitchen. The soundtrack of his life for 22 years and counting. A place he loves and shares with his traveling friends. I’m lucky to be one of them.