Exploring Millennium Park: Shifting Waters
I chose to explore Millennium Park and some of its surrounding areas today. While this is not uncharted territory, I have yet to go out and explore more of this area on my own. Seeing that was so close to my apartment anyway, I left at around 5 PM (on September 17th, the day before this is posted).
I reached the area of Millennium Park at around 5:04 PM. The gardens were just about to close, so I did not get to spend any time in there unfortunately. Tragic. Those gardens, although modest in size and without flowers, offer a nice ambience that contrasts the space outside it. It serves as a quiet place to relax oneself in to the tune of the water.
Stop 1: Crown Fountain
My first stop was Crown Fountain. I sat down on the upraised floor on the perimeter of the fountain. Taking in my surroundings, I can see life all around me. Shifting water, jubilant screams, foot traffic, and lively sprouts of people. The water breeze cleans the air, and the water itself is cool to the touch.
5:12 PM. The kids occasionally scream in laughter or happiness, waddling about in the floor of water, splashing upon it. The stream of water that spits out of the statues’ mouths every few minutes is an attraction to the kids, as they rush to the water, and run into the spray. I take my leave from Crown Plaza after that moment.
5:20 PM. I pass a two-way walkway separated by rows and pots of plants and flowers. The greenery is colorful, yet devoid of life in a way I do not know how to describe. Pale somehow. I pass by a middle-aged man holding a bundle of roses, stopping people to ask them questions. What could he want?
Stop 2: Plaza below the Bean
5:29 PM. I could hear a faint trumpet in the distance. I take a seat on a nearby bench.
I stopped at the plaza below the Bean. Surprisingly, the strip mall here both went out business and moved outside, as I only saw restaurants in the outside space. The strip mall was also undergoing construction at the same time. Above the many tables at the restaurant were red, blue, yellow, and green umbrellas, with a large red one for the outdoor bar. This was accompanied by string lights and speaker music. It created an unique environment which I’ve never seen before. I was by no means a customer, so I didn’t enter. I just took in the view while playing Pokémon GO on my phone. I played that game throughout the walk, and it made my experience more enjoyable overall. I then left and walked past the plaza.
Stop 3: Founders of Millennium Park Fountain
5:38 PM. There are two teens in the center grass area in front of the fountain, playing catch with a football.
The Founders of Millennium Park Fountain is a rebuilding of an original 1909 peristyle. The architecture is of brown stone, with pillars and an arch atop the pillars in the backdrop. The fountain water is clammy, and the atmosphere is calm. People on benches, the fountain’s edges, and walking about. On the wall, founders names and families are listed.
After passing through some offpaths behind and near the Founders of Millennium Park fountain, I walked to the Bean.
Stop 4: The Bean
5:58 PM. People everywhere. Walking in groups. Standing about, most without masks. People are flocking to the Bean to take pictures of it and marvel in its confusing presence. I took a picture of someone taking a picture of the Bean.
Experience 1: 5:53 PM. People are about inside the Bean, gazing at the reflecting mirror images of themselves, a disparaged version of themselves, many at that. They can reach those reflections of themselves with their hands since the Bean arch below them. I knock on the Bean itself, and it makes a strong sound. The air smells like fruit for no apparent reason.
I take my leave and walk past the Great Lawn. It’s empty and closed off, but its view remains marvelous.
I took a back entrance through the high bushes through a flower bank past the Great Lawn. There are few people here, presumably due to the bees and dragonflies buzzing around. There are many types of plants and flowers, some growing outwards from their fields. Birds are chirping in the trees that engulf the sidewalk in shadows. The plants are stimulating to eyes, such that sifting through everything there could leave one in place for a few minutes, dissecting the various strands of greenery.
Stop 5: Maggie C. Daley Park
6:07–6:43 PM. I stopped for a while to use my phone, but I am currently in Maggie C. Daley Park. It feels designed to give the immersion of a suburb, or being in a suburb. The high trees and varying ground level block the line of sight, not allowing further view, as if there isn’t much to see beyond immediate sights in the suburbs. It creates an immersion within a city, a different place, within yet separate from it. The paths are in a confusing labyrinth, making it confusing to walk about with the fencing covering the paths. The walkways are continuous and are colored lime green, light brown, and sea blue. There are several parks for kids within the Maggie C. Daley Park, with swings, hills, and slides. I spent some time on one of the swings, staring at the sky mindlessly.
Experience 2: 6:22 PM, Maggie C. Daley Park. I was trying to leave the maze of walkways, and stumbled upon a small field called Wave Field enclosed in the park. There are two green pathways along the sides, and a bench at the opposite end, with a downwards-sloping trench in the middle. There I found two kids trying to scare a squirrel off. I was almost as perplexed as they were- the squirrel wasn’t moving an inch. It was hurdled next to a walkway in the grass, and it would not move. One of the two kids, shorter than the other and perhaps younger, attempted roaring at the squirrel several times like a lion. It failed. After the other kid made remarks about his failing attempts, the first kid grabbed a tree branch, the size and shape of a hand, adorned with leaves. He threw it at the squirrel, landing the branch right next to it. The squirrel still did not move an inch. In a last-ditch effort, they both ran after the squirrel. The squirrel finally dashed away, and while the kids kept up their pace, the squirrel climbed up and over the fencing to escape. The two kids then ran out of the area to chase it further. I didn’t see them again after that moment.
At this point in the walk, I debated walking back to my apartment. However, I decided that I’ve yet to experience all that this walk could offer. I decided to walk to the lakefront. I would get to the apartment much later as a result.
I did not find any notable objects, other than two oddly browned leaves. I doubt this is enough, but I truly found nothing else, no matter where I looked.
Stop 7: Lakefront Trail, near the Chicago Yacht Club
7:16 PM. There are many people walking on the Lakefront Trail at night, mostly in groups. Turning around I can see the buildings overcast behind me, a myriad of yellow lights, reds and blues at the top, and logos in the distance. I feel so distant and alone here compared to the inner city streets. I feel as if I am nameless, only known to the water’s reflection.
7:43 PM. I walked out from a side extension on the trail to its end, surrounding myself with the lake, and a frontline view of the Yachts and water beyond. The water is an ever-shifting dark blue, and the lakefront lights accompany it with a soft yellow. The storm clouds too are a dark blue. With the light rain and infrequent lightning bolts in the sky, the view and immersion felt desolate, being lost at sea on a stormy night. It felt as if my own emotions were lost at sea. I stared out there with some bitter sweetness, taking in all of the beautiful view before me that I ventured to get.
I walked home that night with a unique resolve, something that has settled within me, yet I’m not sure entirely what it is, or if will be of any use to me. Yet that feeling affirms I can get to where I want to be.
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150–200 Word Response to prompt “Why do walking, lists, and cities seem to go together?”
While each of the 3 things in this list don’t share apparent and inherent similarities, they complement each other well because each of the three plays a part that when combined, creates an experience.
Walking on foot as opposed to other methods of travel gives a person the opportunity to utilize the senses to experience what’s in the immediate area. Only by walking does one have time to stop and converse with strangers, smell the scent of flowers, and take in with mindfulness of the surroundings and scenery around them.
Cities present a wide range of events to take in at once: the high-rise buildings, the people walking about on the streets and interacting, the noise and/or music in the air, the arrays of stores and restaurants, and the public places that appear every so often. In the city there’s something to see every few seconds.
Lastly, lists add to this by streamlining the walking experience of a city. It helps maintain the experience by offering destination after destination, letting a person explore while on their way to their next stop. There’s always something to see in the city.
