Chicago

I did an entry some time ago on how strange it was to move back to Chicago after a forty-year absence and the mind games it tends to play. But it wasn’t until my friend and webmaster Gary moved here from Texas and I began seeing it from his perspective that it struck me exactly what a truly amazing city Chicago is.

Yesterday, we walked five blocks to our nearest elevated station (the station a block from my apartment is being rebuilt after nearly 100 years, and will be closed until mid-2008), and took the Red Line into the Loop so that Gary—okay, and me, too—could see the traditional Christmas window display at Marshall Field’s.

Field’s was recently bought out by the Macy’s conglomerate, and after 150 years of being a symbol of Chicago, they renamed the store “Macy’s on State.” I don’t think they had any idea of the impact of that action on Chicagoans, who refuse to call it “Macy’s.” Immediately after they announced that all signs, including that Chicago landmark, the Field’s Clock on one corner of the building, would be removed, business plummeted, and Macy’s has been scrambling ever since to find some sort of balance.

Field’s is one of the last of the marvelous old Grand Dames of department stores. The main atrium soars 12 stories high; one of the several dining rooms sports a 50-foot tall Christmas tree (sadly, the tradition of having a live tree had to be replaced by an artificial one for fire safety); there is an immense Tiffany ceiling in one part of the building. The Furniture floor once had—I didn’t check yesterday—an entire house which would be redecorated periodically.

The windows were, as always, a children’s delight, with an animated version of the Nutcracker; each window holding a different scene. The interior glitters with holiday ornaments: in one interior court, huge strings of gigantic silver balls swoop up several stories.  Tree ornaments up to four feet across are placed around the floors.

And Field’s is just one store…sadly the last…of the gigantic State Street stores. The beautiful old Carson Pirie Scott, Field’s traditional rival located just a few blocks south on State, is being gutted to make room for trendy boutiques and Starbucks and Old Navy-type stores. Sorry, kid, it just ain’t the same.

There’s far too much to be said about Chicago to fit in just one blog entry: the spectacular lakefront views, the impressive downtown skyline which I can see clearly from my living room window (though I have to stand pretty close to the window and look to my right); Millennium Park with its incredible pavilions and monuments; the Art Institute; the Field Museum; the Museum of Science and Industry; the Shedd Aquarium…Lordy, I sound like a Chamber of Commerce brochure. But it’s all true.

And anyone can see it all using public transportation…possibly the best in the country. Busses, elevated trains, and subways crisscross the entire city, with almost anywhere you might want to go less than three blocks from public transport. 

As I say, a wondrous city, and I’d encourage you to come experience it for yourself.

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This blog is from Dorien's collection of blogs written after his book, “Short Circuits,” available from UntreedReads.com and Amazon.com, was published. That book is also available as an audio book from Amazon/Audible.com. I am looking at the possibility of publishing a second volume of blogs. The blogs now being posted are from that tentative collection. You can find information about all of Dorien's books at his web site: www.doriengrey.com.