the last breath of summer
I decided to get lost with Jennie Savage on a Wednesday afternoon.
3:24PM —
I begin my walk, strolling down Ravenswood Street and admiring the flowers and greenery growing on the side of the narrow sidewalk. Sounds of construction and workers voices fill the air. I stop to kneel down and get a closer look at the flowers. A girl passes me when I am on the ground, carefully taking a photo of one of the flowers, trying to capture its sunny and warm yellow hue. I imagine she thinks “photography majors” as she gives me a smile and steps around me.
I smile back, dust myself up, and keep walking.
3:31PM —
I pass a sign that said ‘Lincoln Square Ravenswood; Apple Fest! First Weekend in October.’ The sun is shining on it. The sign is a terrific shade of green. I make a mental note of when and where this Apple Fest is, knowing full well that I will try to go, then turn left onto Montrose.
3:35PM —
A mom and her two little kids sit outside Margie’s on Montrose eating their ice cream. Their cones carry scoops of mint chocolate chip, cookie dough, and superman ice cream. As I sit down on the curb next to them for a minute, another mom walks by with her son and daughter, and she suddenly backtracks to the other mom sitting as the two recognize each other. Surprised laughs,“hi’s!”, and exclamations of “I can’t believe this!” are exchanged. The kids stare at the interaction with wonder.
3:51PM —
I pass a tree standing tall on the intersection of Montrose and Wolcott. I look up at the leaves, which have what looks like green bean pods hanging off of each one. I love the look of it. It reminds me of a book from my childhood, ‘The Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles”. I take a photo for iNaturalist to find out what species of tree this is. It turns out to be a Catalpa tree. This was so interesting for me to find out, because my aunt and uncle live in a house on Catalpa Street. I’ve gone down their block to visit them countless times over my life, yet I didn’t really know what a Catalpa tree looked like until this moment.
3:59PM —
I’m walking down Walcott, looking at each of the houses in turn. They are all so unique; some of them are completely decked out with Halloween decorations, others have fairy lights strung on their porches (very strategic of them- good for year round festivities), and for some, the yellow, red, and orange leaves on their front yard and sidewalk are enough ornamentation. One of the houses has two steep slopes on either side of their stairs going down to the sidewalk. I instantly think of my brother- without a doubt, he would try to bike or skateboard off of the slopes, treating them as a little ramp for a impressive, definitely very dangerous, jump.
4:06PM —
All of the trees seem to be glowing. The wind is blowing gently. The leaves rustle and sigh as the breeze moves through the trees.
It’s the last breath of summer.
4:18PM —
I am at the corner of Berteau and Honore Street when I come across the prettiest tree; it is half green, half gold. I sit down under it’s canopy to jot down a few details from my walk. A grandma and her granddaughter pass me. They stop in front of the tree to look up at it as well, taking in its beauty.
It’s a special tree.
I wave to the little girl and say “Hi! Look at this tree. Isn’t it pretty?” She simply looks at me, then back up at the leaves. The grandma gives me a sweet smile. I tell her “I saw this tree and had to sit under it.” She laughs and says “Well, I don’t blame you!” They go on their way, the grandma pulling her granddaughter sitting in her little yellow wagon. I add to my notes.
4:30 PM —
I pass a man who is fixing up his bike. But make no mistake- this is no ordinary bike. There is a seat/ cart contraption, the outside painted orange, where his dog can sit! The dog is sitting, unbothered and as cool as can be. He seems used to his bike seat. I snap a photo and continue my journey.
4:37PM —
As I’m walking on Cullom Street, I look up at the sky to see a plane flying past, high in the sky. Most times, planes look to me like they are floating more than flying, but this one was a flyer. It left a trail in the clear blue sky. I took a video, craning my neck up to watch it cut through the sky.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8q65orRMu9w
4:48PM —
I’m travelling down Winchester Street when I pass a man riding his bike on the road, going the opposite way of me. He is bald, with beat headphones securely on his head. His bike is a dark blue. What strikes me is how content he looks, with himself and the world. He is smiling a little to himself, and I could feel the happiness radiating off of him as he whizzed on by. We smile as we cross paths, and then we both continue on our way in the world.
5:02PM —
I was back at Margie's. I saw a sign for candy apples. The store looked so inviting; I almost went in. The only things that stopped me were the line inside and the train to the Loop coming in two minutes. I snapped a picture of the sign, assured myself that I’d come back, and walked briskly to the brown line entrance.
5:03 —
At the entrance of the brown line Montrose stop, I somehow noticed a little piece of paper in a crack of the sidewalk despite my rush to make the train. It read “Thank You!” Seeing it made me smile- I felt like the neighborhood of Ravenswood was giving me a ‘thank you’ for visiting. I said a mental ‘thank you’ back.
5:04PM —
As I finished my walk at the Montrose brown line stop, I spotted a little bird- the perfect end to my walk and afternoon.
My Map —
