Hello from Chicago!

Hello there!  I am settled into my temporary home here on Michigan avenue in Chicago, high above the river and the hustle and bustle.  It took this New Yorker awhile to realize that there had not been a natural disaster and that in fact Chicago is just not nearly as busy as what I'm now used to.  I spent the first four days here asking "where is everybody?"   Shouldn't those sidewalks be jam packed full of pedestrians?  Shouldn't the streets be more crowded with yellow cabs and bikers?    For the relief from congestion, I am so grateful.  I'll take this lower population density in the hotest part of the year in the hotest year on record.

I am also so grateful for my temporary proximity to my favorite body of water, Lake Michigan.   I was walking home from class last night and took a deep breath.  It felt so familiar.    It was Lake Michigan air.  Even on a busy street I could feel it- the lake I grew up smelling and swimming in and looking at.   A small city beach is just a short walk from my hotel.  I fell asleep as I wish I could every night of thesummer last night, in sandy sheets.