city life

Things that a farm girl transported to the city takes delight in:
--the el and buses--you step out of your door and the city is at your footsteps; for 2 bucks, you can go anywhere!
--multi story stores--I love the Dominicks and Targets and Home Depots that are on two or more floors; you take an escalator and your cart takes it along side you, racing to see if it gets there before you. As a child we loved going to Yonkers in Sioux Falls because they had escalators--the store people must have hated us farm kids who could have spent the whole day on those things.
--being in the flight path of the President--our house in in the flight path of the secret service helicopters, and when the president or vice president or president elect is going somewhere, we get strafed.
--alleys--wonderful part of Chicago is the number of alleys, secondary thoroughfares where so much happens. When I was pregnant with Seth and trying to take a nap, I told Paul he could not bring neighbor kids into the house so I could have quiet. I awoke to a house full of Polish speaking kids--I scolded Paul, "I said no neighbor kids" and he replied, "they aren't neighbor kids, they are alley kids". Apparently, in his mind, neighbors were just kids who lived on our street, those who lived across the alley were fair game. Alleys are also great for dumpster diving and for putting out things you hope someone will take off your hands. I love the metal scavenger trucks that are piled with all sorts of discards of our lives.