The swatches of lincoln park
After a long day of class, homework, laundry, and other chores, I decided to grab my paint swatches and venture outside of my dorm to go for my walk. I headed off the quad and towards the fullerton station, and while walking down this part of fullerton I saw my first color match. The green of my paint swatch would have been simple to compare to almost anything in nature, but using grass or trees would be the easy way out. I noticed the parking payment box on the sidewalk, and the green on the logo was a pretty close match to my color. This street is always packed full of cars, so I can assume that the parking meter is constantly being used and filled with money.
As my walk continued on I thought I should pick a destination, so I decided to go to Trader Joes. Following my route, I passed the DePaul Art Museum. Although I have yet to go inside this building, it always sparks my interest when I pass by and I wonder what exhibits exist inside its walls. A metal structure on the outside wall of the museum is of a burnt orange color that almost exactly matches my “mincemeat” paint swatch.
Next on my walk, I headed down N Halsted ST, towards Diversey. Every time I make this walk I notice the mural of the Chicago Bears on a brick wall next to the PNC bank. I never really looked at the colors before, but now I can see how the shade of orange on their jerseys is the same shade as my paint.
I wonder, who painted this mural and why? Nevertheless, it is a fun thing to look at whenever I am on this path. I keep walking and next see a bright green armadillo on the sign for what appears to be a restaurant. “The wild hare and singing armadillo frog sanctuary”, is probably the most interesting name for a place I have seen yet. Upon further research I discovered that it is a live music venue. It is shocking to me how many new places there are to discover here.
I continued my walk and eventually made it inside the Trader Joes on Diversey, ready to get my groceries for the week. Here, while in the produce Aisle I noticed that the color of the bag for the sweet potatoes was quite similar to my orange paint swatch.
I wonder if this packaging is the best option for reducing waste and such, but my pondering doesn’t last for long and I move onto the next area of the store. While looking at the vegetables and choosing what ones I want to buy this week, I saw that the color green of the organic arugula also matched my green paint swatch. I snapped a quick picture, grabbed the carrots I wanted to purchase, and headed to the checkout line.
Now, after finding 3 matches for each color, this concluded the journaling part of my walk. So, I collected my new groceries and headed out on the walk back to campus, now more aware of the prevalence of every color of the rainbow in Lincoln Park.
Response: Growing up, I was always encouraged to explore and go out to discover things on my own. As long as I was being safe and aware of my surroundings, my parents supported the curious side of my personality. They equipped me with the tools to keep myself out of trouble and of course made sure to remind me never to go too far alone. Since I was given the freedom to be independent from such a young age, I was able to develop my own practices for experiencing public spaces, and it influenced how I now handle walking in public spaces in Chicago vs my hometown environment. While I do always keep in mind that I have to be careful of where I am going and what I am doing as a woman alone in the city, I am still able to go out and explore even more in Chicago than I did at home. Because of these beliefs and practices instilled in me at a young age, I feel comfortable and safe venturing out of my comfort zone and into the unknown. (183)
