Ruby Red…Bats? in Oz
Enjoying people-watching in Oz Park
Does a walk through Chicago’s street soothe you, induce stress, or produce some other emotional response? Why? Are there certain kinds of streets or places in the city that produce these emotional responses? Where, when, how, and why?
If I feel safe, I have found walking through Chicago to be a very releasing and pleasant experience. Travelling the streets without a destination or without a strict time constraint allows me to wander both my mind and my surroundings, oftentimes producing small surprises to enjoy. (I like to notice particularly pretty flower boxes, interesting brickwork, and well-dressed passersby.) When I do not feel secure, however, my emotions are a very different story. Stress runs high. Areas with high concentrations of run-down buildings and street dwellers turn that stress into fear and a focus to become unnoticed. I will quicken my pace and make way for a destination. When I am pressed for time (such as when I may be running late to class), that stress then develops into anxiety and panic. Both situations close my mind off to what is around me and narrows my vision into getting to my goal. When it’s earlier in the day, I’m surrounded by people I think I can trust, and the surrounding are semi-familiar, I feel safer. Being alone in poorer neighborhoods creates the opposite sensation.
Oz Park
Thankfully, my walk to and the time spent in Oz Park were very enjoyable. I was able to discover a new (to me) area of Lincoln Park that was heavily affected by gentrification. Whatever may be said about how that affects the history and culture of an area, I found it made me feel very safe. Due to the large number of bees in the park, I was forced to settle near a couple of baseball fields where some little league teams were playing. Being the early afternoon on a Saturday, most of what I saw involved children and families having a good time. That being said, the area was very busy, and I no way captured all that occurred around me. I often found my attention grabbed by one person or event for minutes at a time, so I decided to take sparse notes and focus on actually witnessing my surroundings. The map (I tried my best) shows my location in relation to the people (pink), sounds (yellow), and objects I experienced.
Sounds
(Highlighted yellow on the map)
11:16 →baseball game; ball hitting metal bat; cheering; little boys in blue and red
11:19 →playground; children screaming
11:30 →“I’m right here, and you threw it over there.” — son and dad(?) playing catch
11:33 →child screaming their head off
11:36 →sanitation truck cleaning [a] port-a-potty
11:39 →loud/heavy truck on road
11:41 →”That’s mine! Stoopp!” — kid on playground
11:43 →coach giving direction
11:43b →”Get those out now. Don’t worry about it.”
11:48 →”Hi, little baby.” “Don’t say that.” — kid to another kid
11:51 →”Come! Come!” — guy to runaway dog
11:56 →baseball game ends, and kids run back to parents
12:00 →”Hey, you guys need to pick this — Hey!” — little girl to ???
People
(Highlighted pink on the map)
11:16 →baseball game with little boys and adult coaches
11:17 →parents watching on camping chairs
11:20 →guy sleeping/resting in the sun
11:23 →two kids walking/playing with football
11:25 →kids with soccer ball?
11:26 →food stand with guy
11:28 →another little baseball team practicing
11:30 →dad and son playing catch
11:31 →lady in work-out gear sitting and people-watching on a bench
11:35: →A LOT of kids on playground
11:38 →two adult guys practicing catch
11:40 →police car watching baseball game
11:43 →dude (dad) with same shirt my dad has
11:46 →kid with glasses and all highlighter green outfit
11:52 →guys playing basketball
11:55 →older guy in black walking with a plastic bag
11:58 →new parents setting up camping chairs
11:59 →two adult ladies enjoying ice cream
12:00 →little girl on scooter with dog
