The Morning Crowd in Oz
At 8am after getting my morning peppermint tea from Starbucks, I decided to walk over to Oz park to see what the morning crowd looked like. To my surprise, there were many people there playing basketball, walking their dogs, parents walking with their kids in strollers. The crowd I had most expected to see were kids playing on the playground before school, but there wasn’t a kid in sight. Instead, it seemed like recess for adults. The men playing basketball together were goofing around, slapping the ball out of the others hand, and laughing like little kids. They made jokes when one man missed a shot and the man pushed his friend’s shoulders to retaliate.
After watching them for a second, I walked down the sidewalk and sat myself on a nearby bench right by the playground. The trees blocked out nearly every inch of sunlight, and you could feel it. The shade created an atmosphere that seemed to be 20 degrees cooler than in the sunlight. The wind brushed up against my face and swirled my hair around as I was sitting. I couldn’t stop thinking about how underdressed I was for this weather. Leaves lifted up and danced together through the wind and travelled to the sunlight. I decided to follow them.
I walked over to another bench that was directly in the sunlight. Over there, you could really see the effects of autumn weather on trees. The sun was poking through even more because all of the leaves were falling onto the ground. The tips of the leaves were turning an orangish-yellowish color and gathering into piles near the trunks of the trees.
As I sat there with my now lukewarm tea in hand, I felt so relaxed. The ambience of Oz Park in the morning was so calming and beautiful. Every person that walked by was in a cheery mood and passed by with a smile. Across from the bench I was sitting on, there were probably 15 dogs running around, chasing each other. Their owners stood near by, watching, and chatting with each other. There was a huge, grey Great Dane wearing tiny boots on his front paws. Although he was bigger than any other dog there, he stuck by his owner, seeming scared of the other dogs, or embarrassed that his owner made him wear those shoes. I then saw two dogs, a Black Lab and Dalmatian, team up against a Golden Retriever. They started chasing the Retriever and nipping at his paws, yet all of their tails were wagging the whole time.
While sitting in my new spot I saw many more people walking by. One man zoomed by on a scooter while his daughter grasped onto the the front of the scooter with her little back pack on. A couple sat next to each other on another bench and the boyfriend wrapped his arm around his girlfriend to warm her up. A group of girls with backpacks walked by laughing with one another, also holding Starbucks drinks.
I looked past the group of dogs and saw a baseball game going on. I decided to walk near it to see how it was going. The sidewalk turned into a large path where there were many walkers, runners, and high school students heading to school. Oz Park is a very walkable space, and plenty of people use it just for that reason. Everyone at oz seemed to have their own little community: the basketball players, the runners, the parents, and the dog walkers. Everyone used the space in a different way, but everyone respected each other’s space. The morning crowd seemed exceptionally nicer than during the day. Every person I walked by smiled or nodded. Perhaps it was because they were enjoying the weather, or they were all morning people. My experience was refreshing, except, as I was leaving the park, two men were having an argument.
An older man holding a helmet yelled at a younger man who seemed uninterested. The man shouted, “You’re careless and rude! You ruin things for other people.” The younger man looked at him for a moment, didn’t respond, and put his headphones in. I walked past them, and the younger man pointed at the older man and said “What’s his problem?” I laughed and started heading back to my dorm.
Research a piece of public art that you have come across while walking in Chicago. What is the history of this piece of public art? Who is the artist? What is the purpose of the artwork? What is the meaning of the artwork? Where is the artwork located? In which neighborhood and/or community area? Was it the artwork commissioned? By whom? Why? What materials were used in creating the artwork? What have others written about the artwork?
As a Michigander, when I think about Chicago, the first thing that comes to mind is The Bean. I didn’t know it by any other name until I started living here. I’ve only seen it once for a brief moment when I walked by it on one of my other walks. People crowd around to stare at this giant piece of metal, so I wanted to research it’s origin and what makes it so special. The Bean, or Cloud Gate is located in Millennium Park and it’s mirror-like surface was meant to represent liquid mercury. It was designed by Anish Kapoor, a famous artist known for his large, outdoor sculptures and he released it to the public in 2004. The bean is made out of stainless steel out of 168 stainless steel plates welded together and weighs about 110 tons. Computer technology was used to make sure the plates had a clean, sleek finish. On the inside of Cloud Gate, are two metal rings holding it up. Although its true name is Cloud Gate, it is more commonly known as The Bean. This is because designs of the sculpture were released to the public while it was still being built and citizens started calling it ‘The Bean’ because of its shape. That name stuck and now it’s known as The bean all over the country. It is one of Chicago’s biggest tourist attractions. (233)
