The Windiest Walk of My Life
My walk started off by leaving my dorm, Munroe Hall, at 11:18 am. Right off the bat I saw a lot of students walking around the campus. I guessed that most were either just getting out of class or on their way to their next class. I turned left on Clifton Avenue until I hit Fullerton Avenue then turned left. I noticed it was very windy today and it felt like the low sixties. I’m glad I wore a jacket for this walk because the wind started to get stronger and stronger. As I walked down Fullerton Avenue I noticed numerous students in pants and jackets or sweatshirts with either a Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts drink in their hand. I could tell most were students because everyone looked around my age or a little bit older and all of them had backpacks on. Most of the students I saw walk past me all had darker colored backpacks, for example, black, navy blue, and deep green. I don’t know if that was a coincidence but it was just an observation. At 11:25 am I noticed construction going on Fullerton Avenue, it looked like they were resurfacing the street. I could hear the loud beeping coming from the construction vehicles and felt dust get caught in my eyes from the wind. I stayed walking straight down Fullerton and walked by Starbucks. As I walked by I looked through the windows and noticed a big crowd of students waiting on drinks or food to come out. I could see the baristas through the crowd of students and all of them were rushing around mixing drinks and taking food out of a machine with tongs. I did think about going to Starbucks to get a drink but decided not to after looking through the windows and seeing all the commotion going on inside. After walking past Starbucks I got a strong smell of croissants. I looked to my left and saw Dunkin Donuts. It was an amazingly pleasant smell. I assumed it was from Dunkin because that seemed like where the smell would come from, I know Dunkin has some really good croissant breakfast sandwiches.
At 11:30 am I decided to turn right on Southport Avenue mainly because I didn’t want my drawing of my walk to be a straight line. As I crossed the street I noticed a street cleaning vehicle that was Cubs themed. I thought that was very cool because Chicago is the “Home of the Cubs.” It was tall, taller than an average car, and made a loud buzzing sound. Walking down Southport Avenue I noticed an apartment building on my side of the sidewalk and houses on the opposite. As I walked I started to look down at the sidewalk because it was very clean and clear. The only thing on the sidewalk would be plants. I didn’t see any trash on the ground, not even a little wrapper. I noticed this because most sidewalks I’ve walked on in Chicago will usually have waste on the ground so it almost caught me by surprise with how clean the sidewalk was. At 11:33 still walking down Southport I noticed a bar called “Broken Barrel” on the opposite side of the street I was walking on. It caught my attention because it was in between two houses where people lived. I’d never seen a bar right in the middle of a small neighborhood so I found this very interesting. The top part of the bar was matte black and I thought it gave the bar a more “classy” look to it. After observing the Broken Barrel I looked forward and noticed the leaves on a tall and big tree start to change. I absolutely loved the sight of this. I think it’s amazing how the leaves on trees start to change colors as we go into the fall season, it’s a beautiful sight.
11:34 am I turn right on Wrightwood Avenue and on my immediate right side I notice smooth grayish rocks by the sidewalk. Every rock was the same color but different in size. I found this weird because where these grayish rocks lay are usually wood chips or grass. I made the assumption that someone had put them there purposely and it was not like that before, but I wondered who and why they did that. There was no house and apartment building that was in front of these rocks. It almost looked random. I continued with my walk and noticed multiple houses with pumpkins used as decor, some had faces and some did not, there were different colors and sizes that sat in front of people’s front doors. The same houses with pumpkins in the front also had Halloween themed wreaths hanging on their doors. This reminded me that Halloween is coming up soon and my favorite thing to do during this is to look at people’s houses and see how they decorate it. At 11:37 am I saw a building on a corner of the street and it held a big circular sign that said “Love Street” in pink. I was a little confused with this sign because the street was not actually “Love Street” it was Wayne Avenue. As I was taking a picture of this peculiar sign I noticed two older ladies, one was in a navy blue tracksuit with gym shoes and the other was wearing sweatpants and a zip up sweatshirt holding a leash that was attached to a poodle. As they walked and talked I observed them, looking at them from afar it was almost like they were the background characters from a movie or television show. They disregard me. Giles Turnbull wrote “A woman is working hard, bent over a sewing machine in a shop window, as if she’s a performing mannequin. She disregards me.” I think Turnbull and I had similar observations because he describes the woman as a performing mannequin and I described the two older ladies as background characters from a movie or television show. As I walked past the two older ladies I noticed there was almost silence. I couldn’t hear any other strangers’ conversation but could only hear the leaves rustling in the wind. I could feel my nose starting to get runny from this breezy day.
At 11:43 I saw an older man in jeans and a dark gray sweater with a gray and blue hat standing in the middle of an intersection, Lakewood Avenue and Wrightwood Avenue. As he stood there he pulled out his phone and took a picture of his point of view in front of him. While he was taking this photo I took a photo of him. He disregarded me. In Turnbull’s writing he says “A man sits alone by the water’s edge. I take a photo of him from behind, and his behind disregards me.” I could relate to this when I took a picture of this man also taking a picture because I was somewhat behind him while I took this photo but he never turned around or even acknowledged me. After taking a picture of this man I noticed the wind start to die down a little bit because I could feel the warmth from standing in the sunlight. I then took about five steps in the same direction and I saw a lady walking in the opposite direction of me. I could see her a couple feet away from me and I saw her struggling to hold onto her toddlers stroller while also holding a leash that was attached to a small dog. It was small like a yorkie but I wasn’t completely sure what breed it was. It also had dirty blonde hair. As she walked her toddler dropped their blue mini water bottle on the ground. This was also the same time I walked by so I decided to pick up the water bottle and hand it to the toddler. The mom thanked me deeply and smiled then proceeded on her walk, as did I.
I turned left on Racine Avenue at 11:46 am. I found myself walking throughout a neighborhood, I was walking a little slower than I usually do because it started to get super windy again. On my right side I noticed a three floor apartment building and each floor has its own porch. The first floor’s porch had white flowers along the fence which I thought really complimented the dark brick on the building. At 11:53 am I came across Schubert Avenue and a brown sign underneath the street sign that said “Honorary Chico Dibenedetto.” I wondered who Chico was, why is he being honored, and why was his sign specifically put here? I did a little research on him. Dibenedetto passed away on October 17, 2017. He was a World War II Navy Veteran, devoted father, son, and loving godfather. He was known as the ambassador of Racine Avenue. I thought this was fascinating and thoughtful. I have walked on Racine Avenue multiple times now and never thought about who was the ambassador for this street. I also thought it was amazing and sweet that there was a sign put in place to honor him. At 11:57 am I turned left on Diversey Avenue and walked straight down. I came to an immediate halt because I saw a tall house with dark gray brick and long tall windows. It was on the corner of the street. I thought this house was very appealing and gorgeous. I could dream of owning a house like this in Chicago. I then continued with my walk and now was on Lincoln Avenue. I was walking through a very peaceful and quiet neighborhood. All I could was the wind and strangers walking past me every few minutes. At 12:14 pm I found myself on Racine Avenue and saw a restaurant called “Eduardo Enoteca” . They had a menu outside their restaurant in a clear box. I stopped and read their menu. The food sounded delightful, at this point I realized I was getting a little hungry. I moved on and turned onto Seminary Avenue and the first thing I saw was a huge web connected to a house. It was hanging from the front of their door to the tree that was right in front of the street. I thought this was super creative because it looks like a ginormous spider web. I decided I would come to the end of my walk at this point because I started to get hungry. I pulled out Google Maps to show me how to get back to Fullerton Avenue so I could go to Starbucks.
