Walking Journal: An Unmapped Path
On Monday September 12th I began my walk around 4:50 PM from Belden-Racine Hall. I originally started my walk with a plan. I had destinations I wanted to reach, for example the Wrigley Field dog Park, however as I began my walk I decided to weave off my original path.
One of the first things I took notice of during my now casual stroll was the abundance of people who were dressed nicely. Some were wearing a suit, some had high heels, some were carrying a backpack or holding a briefcase. But all were hurrying home from what I am assuming was their tiresome work day. I also noticed a lot of people walking their dogs as well as children playing on playgrounds or at sports practice in the park.
Once I got further away from the neighborhood I noticed there were a lot of people holding yoga mats and wearing workout clothing and soon after I passed a yoga studio. At 5:00 PM I decided to cut through an alleyway because I noticed a huge beautiful mural on the side of the wall that said Roses Lounge. I decided to stop and take a picture.
Continuing on I made a right out of the alleyway. I soon realized that the mural was on the outside of a bar which in fact was called Roses Lounge. Something I experienced on my walk was stumbling upon a cool looking consignment store. It was called Elliott’s consignment. It was 5:09 PM at the time and I saw that the door was still open. So I ran across the street and decided to go in to check it out.
At 5:17 I decided it was time to say goodbye to Elliots consignment, turned around, and made my way back up the busy street. My second experience happened just a few blocks from the Consignment store. It was at 5:22 when I witnessed someone getting pulled over by the police. This was a notable experience for me because this is something that I do not experience while walking in the residential areas of Lincoln park. Wandering off the busy road and back into the quieter residential areas I saw a lot of newspapers on the sidewalk. The further and further I went into the neighborhoods I realized most of the newspapers were untouched, so I took the liberty of grabbing one for myself. I figured why not and thought it would be a good souvenir from this trip.
Reading Question Response: In “The Solitary Stroller and the City,” Rebecca Solnit writes, “Cities are forever spawning lists” (p. 202). Why do walking, lists, and cities seem to go together?
Thinking back to my walk I can easily see how these three things go together. For example as I walk through this city that is still very unfamiliar to me I begin to think of, or should I say, conduct a list, of all the places I would love to go in. Walking through the city makes your mind wander. It makes you think about what is around you and you begin to notice all these new exciting things. On this walk not only did I notice the cool things I want to do but it also made me think of the things I need to do. When I passed a grocery store I thought about all the errands I should run and how I need to stop by Target this week. I passed a Theater and thought about the movie screening I need to attend for my film 101 class. When I passed a laundromat I remembered I needed to change my sheets and do laundry. Wandering the streets of Chicago I can see what Solnit meant by “Cities are forever spawning lists”. Subconsciously on my walk I began listing the things I need or want to do. The more things I passed as I walked the longer that list grew. (212)
