Today I had a previously unheard-of-for-me 8am meeting, which required me to be in bed by the obscenely early hour of 11pm so as to wake up by 6am. How do some people do that day after day? Anyway, as Vernam has neglected to mention hereabouts, he is now working in the Loop and commuting by train. So far, it's fun, just a 20-minute ride. I've been lucky never to have commuted even so long as 30 minutes, no matter where I've worked. Life's too short to be stuck in a car for long every day. In DC, I knew people who literally did a four-hour roundtrip every damn day.
So, way up on the 18th floor, two mere blocks from the Sears Tower, I sat in my office after the meeting ended, enjoying a southeast view of the river, the lake, and the constantly clogged Dan Ryan expressway. All of a sudden, I heard the unmistakable sound of a jet roaring past the building. "Uh, that's not right," I thought to myself. Not quite freaked out but definitely more than curious, I strode to the window and saw a fighter jet just as it streaked behind a nearby building. Then it dawned on me that this weekend is the annual Air and Water Show on the lakefront. The rest of the day was a kick, seeing the Blue Angels circle around at high speed. One executed a steep climb that we could see from start to finish. Quite a show. I do wonder if anyone working downtown was terrified by the first approach, though.
Yesterday, a loud helicopter had zipped between our building and the Sears, which is something older hands here said never happens. We wondered if it was some kind of exercise. My office neighbor said the thing went right past her window, which was mildly disconcerting. Maybe everyone's just on edge after endless months of terror warnings.
On the train home today, I spied an ingenious graffito painted on a hard-to-reach corrugated fence: "The American dream is not the only dream." It's right where thousands of people will see it daily, and where probably no one will bother to cover it up or wash it away.
Weirdest and most disturbing of all, though: Heading home from the station tonight, I saw a nun in full, ankle-length habit -- complete with Sister Betrille aerodynamic hat -- riding her bike near my house. Made me feel a little silly about rolling up my pantleg to avoid getting it caught in the chain.
Posted by Vernam at August 20, 2004 12:40 AM | TrackBack