Ride a dove!

The fire escape to my apartment was home to several birds last summer. There was a large robin that had two sets of hatchlings in the overhang of the porch's roof, and a dove that nested in my neighbor's hanging planter. The dove would still let people water the plants it had nested amidst, but puffed up and gave them dirty looks.

Across the way in the berm where a strip of wilderness (albeit mostly invasive species) that lends some break between our buildings and the L each of these birds would hunt for food and nesting supplies. When the trees are full of leaves we can no longer see a neighbor's tv running all night and the branches are filled with all kinds of birds and critters.

One night last Fall another set of neighbors coaxed a stray cat out of her life on the berm. I imagined she had escaped from her home and built her own oasis among the tall weeds much like the kid in My Side of the Mountain. The last I knew they had convinced her to stay with them out of the wilderness.

This past winter, much like many apartment buildings, the drain pipe became encased in ice. Years of not cleaning out the gutters led to 3-story icicle that was bigger than me around. It and the month-long cold snap made me want to write a story about winter turning to climate change as an over the top measure to counter humanity's stubborn global warming efforts that would have been compared to Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip. Fortunately, the full story was never written.

Yesterday's return of snow made many people want to cry. The dove came back to it's hanging nest last week and is still there today.

Why not me?- A statement of purpose

Whenever there is something worth doing I always think of Richard Reeves' Profiles In Power and the quotation attributed to President Kennedy when speaking about why he ran for the office. He said, "Why not me!"
I follow several Rogers Park, Chicago and Illinois blogs. While I don't exactly what I'll contribute, I think whatever it is will keep up the lively conversation. Unfortunately, I work two jobs outside the neighborhood, don't have a scanner and only have the dollars to sit in our fine watering holes once or twice a week. However, I do love the neighborhood and city. While I may champion particular causes and people at times, I am not dogmatically in favor or against any personalities or ideas. I respect the conversation in our community and think that no matter how spiteful it has been or will be, I'd rather listen to my neighbors than practice the hobby of ignoring them, which seems to be in fashion in so many places.
Until later.