This weekend was no exception, in fact some of the random events happened not only in my neighborhood, but on my block! I think it all really started Friday; this city has an energy like no other, it's got a mood that hangs in the air, and if you listen to it you can sense it, you can feel it's mood and you get drawn in. It's powerful, it's beautiful! It can be uplifting or it can be dark. On this particular Friday it was an upbeat energy that put a smile on my face as I walked home in the wind. It was a goofy smile, the wind was bringing a storm but the sky was blue. I couldn't help but notice that the energy was happy and high, but a little off.
So, I have a few post-work cocktails at home, and I get tired, it had been a long week, and I was sick and whatever...so I go to bed. Sometime around 4 or 4:30 am I wake up to sirens. Not really normal for sirens to wake me up, they go by all night every night, you learn to sleep through them. So, they wake me up but go quiet right away so I fall back asleep. A second later I hear more, and they go quiet again. Now, if you know anything about the usage of sirens, they're on while in route but turned off while on scene. Well, since I didn't hear them off in the distance moving away I quickly determined that they must be on scene, near by. So I looked out the window and BOOM there they are. Right in front of my building. A fire truck and 4 cop cars. Being that it's 4am and I have neither the desire to get dressed nor be the guy interviewed by the news crew wearing boxers and a Van Halen t-shirt who says something like "Well, what had happen' was that I heard this big crash and then like the sirens come flashin' down the street. So I came out to see what was goin' on ya know"; I went back to sleep.
In the morning I took the dog out and BLAM there it was...the Ford Candy Red Metallic color glistening in the sun...the front bumper of a Mustang...in the garbage can. I headed the half block west to Morgan and as I turned south car parts were everywhere. Foam inserts, fiberglass panels, headlamp assemblies, front grills. Then I saw what ha' happen...two parked cars looked like they had been involved in a 40mph t-bone. Broken rocker arms, pieces of red fiberglass sticking out of the aluminium body panels of the Jaguar. Swooping tire tracks all over the street told the rest of the story; Allegedly, two drunk asses, driving a rear-wheel drive sports car in the ran, way too fast had lost control and fishtailed into the two parked cars. The red mustang spun at least once in the street coming to a complete stop just short of the intersection, but facing the wrong direction. The vehicle occupants fled the scene on foot, most likely heading east bound on Madison.
After viewing the tragic aftermath I kinda wish I had gone running outside to be on scene and snap cell phone pics! Oh, well. Next time.
So then, as Dakota and I continue on our walk I met a new person!! I always get excited to meet new people. To lead into this chance meeting I need to give you a little background on my 'hood. My neighborhood's fame began in 1886 after the events that unfolded during the Haymarket Massacre, it continued to be a very rough industrial neighborhood until as recent as 6 years ago when yuppie condos started popping up in all the old brick warehouses. Now that the yuppies have all moved in, the streets are pretty clean, for the most part. One issue we still face is the fact we are wedged between the cities West Side (very rough) and the business district (where all the bums go beg).
Now most the bums in our area are very transient, they're basically moving from the ghetto to collection points around the city, we just happen to be the buffer between the two. So as Dakota and I make the turn from Aberdeen to Adams, I see this sweet little old lady packing up her "bed" into her grocery cart. Ruby seems like a nice lady, over the course of the weekend I saw here sitting on a milk crate in front of Starbucks, then enjoying the sun in the empty lot across the street, then bedding down for the night in the alley on the block west of Morgan. She's quiet, doesn't cuss or yell at newspaper boxes so no complaints.
So as it turns out there was also an immigration reform march that afternoon as well. An three-mile long march down Washington street from Union Park to Daley Plaza (That's where they got that Picasso!!). Now this was no surprise, as it happens every May 1st, what came as the surprise was the dramatic and visible increase in police presence over the previous years. In reaction to the law passed in Arizona the police were ready for a potentially more vocal and aggressive group this year. What really got my attention thought, was the Illinois State Police marching down Madison (a block south of Washington) in full riot gear.
Made you think about the riots going on in Bangkok, the riots in Greece and the reaction many other anti-government actions receive around the world. This kind of police presence can be a daily event in most other nations, and nearly every rally by the people draws this kind of attention by the authorities. There are frequent protests and rallies in this city. All draw special attention from the city police, as they should, but never have I had the state police march into my city with batons and shields, ready for action...This all leaves me to ask one question.
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