Tag: rogerspark

Communal Fridge

We have a communal fridge near Rogers Park Metra station. Actually, it’s a little pantry with two blocks of shelves and a fridge in the middle (I believe, I posted the pictures earlier). Local stores sometimes drop off some produce there, but mostly it’s people who have some extras, or leftovers, or just want to share. Anyone can drop stuff on the shelves or in the fridge (labeling containers, if they are not industrially packaged). And anyone who passes by, can take anything out.

Yesterday, although I didn’t need to take a train, I walked there to drop off several unused cans of vegetables, a bag of green beans which we decided not to cook after all, and plastic box with roasted vegetables (we had a lot left, and I forgot to give a box to Anna & Family when they were leaving).

There were several people around when I approached to drop these items off, and the pantry was far from being empty, but the way they reacted at my offering made me regret I didn’t bring all of our leftovers there: oh, they are already cooked? Just warm them up? God bless you!

I recently read about one behavioral experiment: theology students where asked to deliver a talk on Good Samaritan, and half of them were notified right before they were ready to leave, that the talk time was changed and they were late. Then, in the way to their talk all of them were presented with a situation when a stranger was in a distress and needed help. While a substantial part of not-in-a-rush students stopped and tried to help, none of the those who thought they were late, stopped.

Unfortunately, being in a hurry is a major reason for not helping those in need. So many times I would plant to bring my leftovers to the communal fridge, but was in a hurry to catch a train, and knew that I would walk a bit slower with the leftovers, and all these minutes would accumulate, and I can always freeze what I didn’t eat, and in any case, what difference a pint of soup can make? I am nit saying “never more,” but ai will try very hard. I won’t forget the faces of those with whom I talked yesterday by the communal fridge, with their gray wrinkled skin and missing teeth.

We all are Rogers Park. Please forgive me. I will try to be better.

My Neighborhood

On the one-before-last day when my guests were still in Chicago, I made a bad decision regarding taking a bus instead of the L-train, and after an extensive waste of time, we ended up walking to the nearest Red Line station, which happened to be Fullerton.

I tried to make lemonade of the lemons life gave us, and said that at least they have a chance to see one more neighborhood, more upscale than mine, with beautiful houses. They immediately replied: Yes, the houses are beautiful, but there is not a single sign “Black Lives Matter”, or “Love is Love”, or “Hate has no home here!”

Love my neighborhood! Love my friends!

Glenwood Art Fest

More pictures from the Glenwood Art Fest, shared by my friends.

And the very last pictures: saying good-bye to our Great Sea:

It’s The End Of The Weekend…

… and if you ask me right now about my weekend, I would say that I was working! This would be at least partially true, but I do not feel miserable about it. This impression comes mostly because I was working for the past nine hours, more or less nonstop. There are two reasons why this does not make me miserable: first, I had many meaningful activities before these nine hours, and second, I had been extremely nervous for the past two weeks about not finding time to do all this work. So now that a big chunk of it is done, I feel much better :), and feel like this weekend was well spent.

One of my old friends from Palatine visited me for the first time since I moved to Rogers Park, and we had an amazing time together! She liked my house, the neighborhood, and the beach. The weather was not especially beach-friendly, so most likely, if I were by myself, I wouldn’t even go, but since she already went that long way, we went, and the rain retreated :). While we were sitting chatting at the beach, a lady approached us and said that she was advertising a chess tournament, and how there were not enough women in chess, and maybe we could give it a try. I had no time and no desire, but I loved her enthusiasm, so I took the information from her. It was so “Rogers Park-like” that I could not explain better what I love here!

We visited my mom, then went to Charmers, got some coffee, and ate the buns that my friend had brought from a Polish bakery.

She loved our courtyard and wanted to take a picture of it, and then she said she wanted me in the middle because my clothes matched our beautification color scheme.

After she left, I changed from the beach outfit to the nice one and went to a coworker’s 50th birthday party. I really admire and respect this person, and he might be the only person for whom I would go all the way to Berwyn! An over-an-hour one-way Uber trip, plus staying there for an hour and a half, and a trip back, and 50+ people in the bar from whom I knew maybe five or seven… I am telling you, I would not do it for anyone else!

Love It Here!

I was shopping for plants outside the Charmer’s (yes, they are a flower shop in addition to being a cafe). A group of bikers exited the cafe and walked towards their bikes. I overheard them continuing their conversation:”… and look, maybe you will live here one day! It’s a nice place!” I couldn’t keep from smiling, and one of them saw my smile and asked: “Do you agree?” I said, “Yes, that’s the right place to live!” They turned to me: How long did you live here? Did you live in other Chicago neighborhoods before that? Ans I told them that that’s one of the best decisions I made, and I didn’t regret a single day!

Charmer’s

RP Stands For Rogers Park

That’s in case you didn’t notice this abbreviation for those three and a half years I lived here. Not everything is rosy in RP, but I am so happy I moved here!

On Monday, when Nadia and I were walking back home from the Common Cup, Nadia noticed a new mural – I remember when the contest for the new mural was announced, but somehow, I passed by in a hurry several times without noticing what exactly was painted.

Below is the new mural – all three parts, and that’ all you need to know about RP!

Actually, there is one more thing you need to know! On December 25, when I walked from the Jarvis Red Line station to the back entrance of our building in my red coat carrying half-empty red luggage, I heard, “Merry Christmas, Hettie!” three times!

Shakespeare In The Park

Glenwood Art Fest was this weekend, and I could not make it there until today. On Friday and Saturday, the rain randomly stopped and started, and when it started, it would pour! I got completely wet at least six times during these days!

But today, the rain finally stopped, so I took my mom and went there. Yesterday, when I was exporting, one of my fellow escorts told me that there will be “The Twelve Night” performed at 2-30. so I planned to be at the fest before that, and the timing was perfect.

OMG, they are so good!!! That’s how you should do Shakespeare – on the market, with no mics, with very simple props and costumes. Loudly. Over-expressive. Almost vulgar, but not. To the lough and joy of the audience.

Also, I really liked how they decorated the underpass under the CTA tracks!

Tranquility

On Wednesday morning, I finally did what I wanted to do since Boris’ departure: I went to the beach between working out in the morning and going to work. I just got the sunrise, and the water was warm, and there was absolutely nobody on the beach!

It felt so good and gave me a great start to the day!

Then, I took a short break from work in the afternoon and walked to the Tiny Cafe on the Riverwalk. This summer, they finally opened their coffee corner, and they have ice cream again (and great espresso!). I took an ice cream cone and espresso and sat on a stone step, looking at the Chicago River.

And one more time, I was not running anywhere, if just for five minutes!

Sunday

Nothing special happened last Sunday, but the whole day was amazing. I enjoyed each moment, and once again, I couldn’t stop thinking how fortunate I am to live in Rogers Park—there is no other neighborhood like this!

I started my day with a long bike ride. We are at the start of two months of early sunrises, and I do not want to miss any of these mornings!

Monroe Harbor

Even though I left the house before sunrise, a long bike ride was indeed long, and when I came back, it was already 7-15. I just had time to shower, and got out of the house. My plan was to have breakfast at the Common Cup just because I wanted to try it for a while, and I never did. I was not sure how crowded it would be in the morning right before opening, so I ordered in the app while I was on my way there. When I entered the coffee shop, I found that:

  • They were just finishing my order.
  • There was nobody inside. except for myself.

I sat down with my cappuccino and my quiche and enjoyed. My next stop would be at Glenwood Sunday Market, and I still have some time to spare. Several customers would come in and out, both for takeaway and dining-in, but the place was still far from being crowded. I walked to the counter to ask were is the garbage – I could not spot it around me. A person at the counter was taking an order, and just as I started asking, a customer turned to me, and I saw that it was our Alderwomaan Maria Hadden! It was unexpected (her office is just the next door, but it was Sunday!), so I was like: Oh, hi, Alderwoman Hadden! And she was: Oh, you are looking for a garbage? Let me show you! And she led me to the opposite side of the caffee, where the garbage can was. I asked her: are you going to the same place as we all are going? And she said: yes, of course, to the market!

I walked to the marked fifteen minutes before opening. Everything was set up, and nice, and fresh, and the sun was bright, and it felt like a holiday.

Shortly, the opening ceremony started, and all of the officials talked about how our Glenwood market is a thing they are bragging about, and how it is a center of community, and people get together there, etc.

And then the ribbon was cut, and the bell rang, and people disbursed to their favorite vendors. I went to the south corner of the market to check in with my favorite all-natural popsicle makers:

And then got my flowers!

Now until the end of October, I have no problem having fresh buquiets every week!

That was enough to make it a perfect day. The rest of the day just rolled!

Jarvis Family Full Moon Fest

We had a family activities day at Jarvis Square on Saturday. It was the first time we had such a family-style celebration (the adult part followed after 8 PM). There was free face painting, and free s’mores, and trick-or-treating, and drumming, and Taro fortune telling. Most importantly, there were kids in costumes who had enormous fun! I walked there with my mom, and we walked around and made our s’mores over the fire, and then I got the butternut latte in the Charmer’s Cafe for myself and caramel cider for mom, and we sat there and watched the kids running around with the buckets, sitting for the face painting and drumming.

Mom was saying that it’s too bad we can’t take pictures, and then she added that it’s impossible to tell others how good it was because no words and no pictures can reflect the feeling and the atmosphere. That was one of the rare moments when she felt the way I hoped she would feel after moving here.

We saw Channel 5, and one kid yelled: Mom, we are on the news! The reported was interviewing one of the organizers, and I heard that she said that “it feels very safe,” which I couldn’t agree more.