We lived for over two years in an apartment that was so close to the L tracks that we very rarely opened any windows, even on the most temperate of days, because the noise from the trains passing by was too much. We lived for over two years in an apartment that was so close to the L tracks that we rarely spent any time outside on our balcony, porch, or back yard, even on the most temperate of days, because the noise from the trains passing by was too much.
It has pretty suddenly gone from a spring that was mostly in the 40s to one that’s mostly in the 80s. Since we now live in a place that has no L tracks within earshot, and since all of the windows have screens, we’ve opened the windows to let in the pleasant breezes and air that’s as fresh as can be for a busy avenue in a major US city.
Though we’ve still not “set up” our grill (read, the Viking needs to clean it since he neglected to do so before the end of last grilling season) it was so warm recently that we ate dinner outside. I look forward to grilled vegetables, my favorite food of all time.
Opening our windows has allowed us to hear our neighbors, a small group (still not sure how many actually live there) of 20-somethings whose back porch is about level with – and just outside – our bedroom windows (there are two). They like to sing. They like to turn all-white Doc Martin-style boots into ombré white-to-grey-to-black boots (which looked cool as shit). They like to say things like, “Ssssh, we should be quiet, we have neighbors now.” It’s a good thing the Viking is a deep sleeper because the neighbors hang out on their porch chatting and such well into the night (after 2am). There may be some stern admonitions in the future ….
Because before we lived in our place, no one did. And before that, there was construction of our current building. And before that, it was an empty lot. Chicago has a lot of empty lots, many more than I saw in San Francisco. Yes, I know that Chicago is a much larger city than San Francisco, and I’m not comparing them one-to-one, but I’m still amazed at how many empty and neglected lots I see in what seem to otherwise be viable neighborhoods.
Just after a couple of days of very warm weather, it cooled down significantly, something that seems to be common to Chicago springs – a few really nice days followed by several days that require heavier jackets, if not gloves and hats. But all through it, we can open our windows if we choose. I think our gas (furnace) and electricity (air conditioning) bills will be much less than they were at our old place because we’ll be relying on fresh air more often, and because the new building likely has better insulation considering it’s new.
There’s a “bar & grill” – read, “nightclub” – in the building right next door. We can hear the thumping music through the walls on the weekends. Still, it’s quieter than the L trains were at the last place, even with the windows closed, and if we ever have guests who drive we can offer them the valet services that are right down stairs.
Our living room has a Juliet balcony so on warm weekend nights it can be quite entertaining to look down on the nightclub’s drunken patrons. Drunks can be entertaining.
The lots in this neighborhood are huge! Lincoln Park’s lots are smaller, due to property values as well as the L tracks cutting off a lot a real estate. And of course they’re larger than San Francisco’s. Really, I’ve not seen yards of this size since I lived in the ‘burbs as a child. One yard that’s fenced, but not gated, and strewn with trash, Isis and I treat as a grassy “park” where she can snack on grass (which she does in the spring) and poop. Of course I clean up after her even though the building’s tenants don’t seem to give a fuck. There’s another building that’s grass is overgrown and which I’m pretty sure has no tenants; Isis loves the overgrown grassy yard. We have no yard at all; the real estate that’s not taken up with building is parking.
We (Isis and I) have met Leo, the local feral cat man. He assured me the local kitties, which he feeds via food from a neighborhood rescue organization, are fixed, and tame enough for him to pet. All I know is that I saw a shit ton of rats in the alleys of the old hood, and I’ve seen none in the alleys of the new hood, and I’m pretty sure the outdoor kitties should be given credit. I told Leo that I volunteer for PAWS, which clearly gave me some cred, since he told me he had adopted his dog from the organization.
I wasn’t lying, I do volunteer for PAWS Chicago. The adoption center is only a bus ride from our current apartment, but it was just walking distance from our old place; I should have begun volunteering there just after we moved to Chicago, over two years ago, but I didn’t know about the place. Now, I go in for shifts at either Kitty City or Dog Town about once a week. Yes, that’s what the organization has named its cat and dog areas, respectively.
After attending a volunteer expo, I found several organizations to which I’ve decided to give my time, including PAWS Chicago, the Lincoln Park Zoo, and the city pound. The private organization, PAWS, is the one that’s been easiest to actually do things for since there’s so much less bureaucracy to deal with. For example, to volunteer for the city pound I had to go to City Hall to submit my finger prints so a background check could be run before I could actually begin walking dogs and socializing kitties for Chicago Animal Care and Control. I was fingerprinted in late March and I’m still waiting – in early May – to hear from the City that I’m good to go. I understand that the Chicago doesn’t want animal fuckers “playing” with the dogs and cats, but I can’t imagine the excessive wait does’t cause a lot of potential volunteers to lose interest.
I’ll attend a daylong orientation at the zoo next week, and then begin gardening on the zoo’s grounds soon thereafter, but I’ve already done a few shifts of actually volunteering at PAWS. Lincoln Park Zoo is free so it relies on volunteers and City funding. I’m not fully supportive of zoos – those animals should not be kept in pens – but I like gardening (and don’t have any other opportunity to do so) and feel that if there is to be a zoo it should be as nice as it possibly can.
Gardening at the zoo is another chance for me to get fresh air, albeit whilst wearing strong sunscreen. I had really missed fresh air in our last apartment, but I think this one will allow me to appreciate Chicago anew.
I swear. True story.
