Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Beyond Pulaski there be monsters?

“Flyover Country” is the term East and West coast people call the Midwest - the big expanse of land East and West coasters don’t know, and don’t care about.
For many years, I treated Portage Park as the railroad equivalent to “flyover country”.
Maybe I should call it “roll past” country. When I took the METRA from the Northwest suburbs down town, I probably noticed the big Sears store at Six Corners, and didn’t think much of it. What I knew of Chicago was the Lake Front to oh, maybe..Western Avenue. Beyond California, there be monsters
Now I live here.
I got a good offer - cheaper rent, and an easier commute to and from the ‘burbs.
Oh sure, I won’t be hearing the sounds of Lake Michigan on Summer mornings anymore. Now it’ll be the sounds of the Kennedy expressway, with news helicopters hovering overhead, as they provide video feed for the traffic reports.
Not very prosaic.
That’s OK. I know where the Lake is. I can reach it on the #80 bus.