The day before the day before the eve of NATO
a long NATO walk on Thursday afternoon
05/17/2012 6:04 PM
I walked all the way home to Roosevelt and State near the NATO zone this afternoon--from a luncheon honoring the Sun-Times' Stella Foster at Galleria Marchetti at Erie and Halsted. Everyone I talked to at my table was leaving town for a long weekend to get away from the unknown, from traffic disruption and safety concerns they would have no control over. Two seatmates were flying to San Francisco this afternoon; another was heading to Springfield tomorrow morning for a long weekend of perusing Abe Lincoln history.
Along my route home, there was a loud political protest involving a moderate number of people at the DePaul plaza at Jackson and State. And across the street just to the south, the homeless population that hangs out in Pritzker Park seemed to be much larger and spread out than usual. There was another lone protester on State Street wearing a canvas bag with words that protested the workings of the FBI.
The large plate glass windows along State Street (I never realized how much large plate glass there was on State Street) enclosing places such as Bank of America at Adams seemed to have a purplish haze--which I presume is due to the well-publicized coating that the downtown buildings and businesses are getting to protect the glass from protest breakage. I didn't see anything boarded up, however.
There was a hovering black helicopter over the southern end of the Loop, which was not a traffic helicopter from a news station.
One of my most utilized mailboxes in the neighborhood at 9th and State was gone (as are all street mailboxes in the Loop). It won't be back until Tuesday--and I wonder what I'll do if I really have to mail something. Speaking of mail, my mail came extremely early this morning--and we only got one piece (an ad for my daughter from Blue Cross asking her to contact them for a quote) which is highly unusual. So it's possible that, as predicted, the mail delivery in the area really is being disrupted.
--Bonnie McGrath
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By Bonnie McGrath from South Loop
Posted: 05/18/2012 4:49 PM
Thanks, Dan! It's fun. This weekend is truly once in a lifetime!
By Dan Haley from Chicago Journal
Posted: 05/18/2012 11:50 AM
Bonnie, you are a wonderful observer. Thanks for being on the scene.
By paula from Mr. Roger\
Posted: 05/17/2012 9:43 PM
Bonnie, our eyes and sneakers on the pulse of our town.