Visiting Parks in Lincoln Park

During my short time in the city of Chicago I have been to many sites and landmarks in the city but I have not fully immersed myself into Lincoln Park. I am lucky to be able to live in an area where I am able to walk I decided to take a walk through my new neighborhood and attempt to notice as much as I can.

11:15: I step outside of Belden-Racine. It is sunny but the air is cool. I can hear various birds chirping. I use iNaturalist to identify a bird outside the hall, it is a white-throated sparrow. The tree in front of the hall is a Green Ash.

11:17: A man of about 30 years cruises by me on a bike. The bike is dark blue. He has a Brown Jansport backpack on.

11:21: A breeze of sewage smell passed by me. It passes in less than a minute.

11:25: While approaching the Fullerton-Racine intersection I can hear a commuter listening to Holiday by Green Day. The car is a four-door sedan. The make is Nissan, the model is either a Versa or Sonata. The car is light blue. The rear left bumper is scratched and dented.

11:30: There is an alley to my right. There is a pile of something in the alley , I move closer to see what it is. There are various magazines such as a copy of the New Yorker and Time. The cover of the Time magazine is of Putin.

11:36: There is a boy on a bike riding my way. His mother is following closely behind. The boy is 8–10 years old. He is wearing a blue helmet. His shirt is black with a nike logo on the top right of the shirt. His shorts are neon yellow. His bike still has training wheels. I can hear the training wheels grind and skid across the sidewalk. Although his mother is not very far from the boy, she is not paying much attention to him. She has a Bluetooth headset in her left ear and has her face dig into her phone. She does not make eye contact with me.

11:45: I stop at the intersection of Racine and Wrightwood. It is still sunny. The sun is warm but the breeze is cool. I can hear car engines rev and rattle through the intersection. There is a Starbucks. Inside 8 people wait in line. Outside the restaurant a man in business attire talks into his cellphone while enjoying his Venti Latte.

11:52: I pause at the Lincoln-Racine intersection. At the intersection there is a store called Rotofugi. The store sells toys. Entering the store are two young children, boy and girl, and their parents. The children look like twins. They looked around 6 years old. In the store I watch the consumers jump from toy to toy attempting to find what suits their needs at the moment.

12:01: the two children walk out with their parents. The boy has a train set and the girl carries a stuffed horse.

12:04: An ambulance races down Lincoln Ave. It is heading north west.

12:16: I can hear the cars whiz past me on the streets. The distant sound of a jack hammer echos through the streets. An older gentleman passes me on the street. Despite his age he seems to be in good health. His strides are strong and natural. He notices me. He gives me a smile and a nod and I return with a nod as well.

12:25: I arrive at Jonquil Park. I find a bench to observe the park. While people pass me I greet them. I greet six people. Four ignore me. Two say hello back. One of those two stopped. The person who stopped was a woman of about 50 years of age. We made small talk for about two minutes and then we went about our days again.

12:34: I exit the park. Having been in the park for almost ten minutes I became accustomed to the smell of trees and grass and the laughter of children as they play various games. The city street is not the same. There is not any laughter on the city street.

12:44: Lincoln is littered with restaurants and bars. I can imagine at night this road being a safe-haven for people looking to relieve stress and enjoy themselves.

12:50: Before I can even see it the smell of deep fried potatoes infiltrates my nose and soon I am able to see those golden arches. It being lunch time the line in the McDonald’s long and full of impatient Chicagoans trying to get a quick bite before their next errand. Next to the Mcdonald’s several other restaurants are going through their lunch rush, such as, Subway, Thai Bowl and Allende. These restaurants contaminate the air with the fumes of cuisine hailing from very different places.

12:58: Across from the restaurants there is a park named Julia Porter Park. I decide not to go in it.

1:07: The sounds of construction fill the air. A huge pit off of Lincoln Ave is filled with people trying to amass a structure. Across from the construction site I can see the spire to a Church.

1:12: Continuing on Lincoln I begin to notice the all the trash on the sidewalk. I compiled a list of what I noticed.

-Half empty bottle of Deer Park water.

-McDonald’s wrapper.

• Four pieces of chewing gum.
• -Empty glass bottle of alcohol.
• -Snickers wrapper.

1:26: I arrive at Oz Park. Kids play in the park while their Parents watch from a picnic blanket not too far away. People enjoy sandwiches and other snacks as they mingle in the park.

1:35: A car passes that catches my eye. It is a pickup truck, the make and model is a Toyota Tacoma. The car’s engine is sputtering and grinding. Rust coats the once solid white truck. The driver looks tired.

1:43: I begin to near the Fullerton stop. The smell of Dunkin Donuts fills the air. People rush in and out of the stop, there are two people smoking. People stand patiently waiting for their rides.

1:50: I arrive back at my dorm.